Cullowhee, NC – Sophomore Tatum Sharp led a trio of Catamounts in double figures as Western Carolina volleyball capped a strong showing, outlasting Mercer in five sets in Southern Conference action on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center Friday to complete the two-game regular-season sweep. The Catamounts earned their third straight win of the season, 21-25, 25-16, 26-24, 21-25, 15-11.
Friday's win over Mercer marks the first regular season sweep of the Bears since 2022, when WCU earned wins in all three meetings.
Sharp recorded double-digit kills for the 12th time this season, leading the Catamounts with 16, hitting an impressive .467 in the win. She also served up three aces and posted a pair of blocks. Freshman Ashlyn Cobb secured her eighth double-double of the season with 14 kills and 10 digs, also adding three service aces.
Sharp and Cobb led the Catamounts in the two matches against Mercer, as Cobb finished with 30 kills, 17 digs, and four aces, while Sharp had 27 kills on a .521 hitting percentage, adding seven blocks.
Senior Zoe Zudans rounded out WCU's trio with 13 kills and four digs. Junior Peri Subat made her second start in as many nights with seven kills and a pair of blocks. Freshman JoJo Abeyta had four kills and a team-best three blocks.
Senior Katie Boney led the squad with 43 assists, adding nine digs and two blocks. Boney finished off the week with 74 helpers, averaging 9.25 per set with 15 digs and three blocks.
Sophomore Elise Gurley turned in her seventh effort of 20 or more digs, leading the Catamounts with 22 in the win. She reached 400 seasonal digs for the first time in her career, the first Catamount to eclipse 400 digs since Eda Yalcinkaya in 2024.
Lara Matta posted a double-double, leading all players with 21 kills and 14 digs, while Taylor Timko finished with 13 kills, followed by 10 apiece for Joselynn Sanjurjo and Avery Wilks. Sammi Bergjans led the Bears with 50 assists and 14 digs for the double-dip. Sarah Frager led the way for Mercer defensively with 20 digs, followed by 17 from Emily Matias, 14 for Bergjans and 12 for Brooke Kaoui. Wilks led the block with four rejections.
Mercer erased WCU's early 7-3 lead with an 11-2 run in the opening set to gain the upper hand, 14-9, at the midpoint. The Catamounts fought back with a 10-3 run of their own to regain a two-point lead, 19-17. Mercer, though, found the final surge with an 8-2 burst down the stretch to claim set one, 25-21.
Cobb recorded four kills and three aces as part of an early 9-2 run in set two as the Catamounts took the early edge in the bounce-back set. The Bears battled back to within four, 11-7, before WCU scored six of the next eight points to stretch the lead back out to eight, 17-9. The two sides went back-and-forth down the stretch before WCU scored three of the final four points to secure the set 25-16.
The tight third set featured 11 ties in the first half before WCU found some separation, scoring four of six points to take a 19-17 lead. Mercer battled back over the next 12 points to even the set at 24 before the hosts earned the final two points for the 26-24 third-set win.
Following the script, the critical fourth set saw numerous early ties before WCU used a 7-2 run to take a 12-7 lead. Mercer quickly answered, though, with seven of the next nine points to tie the stanza at 14 apiece. After a quick response from the Catamounts, the guests scored five in a row to take a late 20-17 lead. WCU got back within a point, 21-20, before the Bears closed scoring four of the final five points to send Friday's match to five sets.
Western Carolina started its seventh fifth set of the season on time with six of the opening eight points to jump out to the early 6-2 lead. Consecutive Mercer points were followed by three straight by the Catamounts for a 9-4 margin in the race to 15. The two sides traded three-point runs as Mercer battled within three points on multiple occasions before Sharp capped the victory with her 16th kill, sending WCU to its third straight win.
Western Carolina (9-15, 5-6 SoCon) closes a three-match homestand on Tuesday, Oct. 27, with a visit from Wofford in the backend of the SoCon home-and-home with the Terriers. The two teams met on Oct. 6, with Wofford winning 3-0 in Spartanburg.
The two teams battle in Cullowhee on Tuesday, with first serve at 6 p.m. on Ingles Court in the Ramsey Center. Tuesday's matchup will be streamed on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), and live stats for both matches will be available at CatamountSports.com.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount volleyball and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts, @catamountvb), and X (@catamounts, @catamountvb).
