Fall sports overview

Women’s Soccer

On Sept. 7, the Mercer Women’s Soccer Team defeated the Houston University Cougars 3-2.

In the third minute of the game, Washida Blackman, senior forward for the Bears, scored off of a free kick from Sarah Daane. Just before halftime, junior Sydney Brogden increased the score to 2-0.

The Cougars fired back in the second half by scoring two more goals, making the score 2-2. Junior Maddie Clark ended the game by scoring in the seventy-first minute, just one minute after the Cougars’ last goal. The Bears won 3-2.

The highly anticipated game on Sept. 12 against the University of Georgia Bulldogs was cancelled due to severe weather.

The Bears were back in action against the Presbyterian College Blue Hose. Early in the game, the Blue Hose took a 1-0, but the Bears were not far behind. Senior Lauren Gassie scored the Bears’ first goal just minutes after the Blue Hose goal.

In the second half, Gassie recorded another goal in the sixty-fourth minute. The Bears defeated the Blue Hose 2-1.

In a hard fought battle between in-state rival Georgia State University, the Bears were defeated by the Panthers on Friday, Sept. 17. In the 1-0 loss, the Bears outshot the Panthers 14 to 10 but could not find the back of the net.

Maggie Cropp, junior goalkeeper for the Bears, had three saves while senior Bri Stampler had four shots on goal.

 

Men’s Soccer

On Sunday, Sept. 7, the Bears faced the University of South Carolina Gamecocks. Going into the game, the Gamecocks were rank No. 27 by Top Drawer Soccer, and South Carolina Player, Mahamoudou Kaba, is ranked among the top 100 players nationally.

Offensively, the Bears struggled throughout the game, in which they recorded only four shots on goal. The Gamecocks scored once in both the first and second half, defeating the Bears 2-0.

In the following weekend, the Bears participated in the Springhill Suites Invitational in Statesboro, Ga. After defeating both the University of North Carolina at Asheville Bulldogs and the Florida Atlantic University Owls, the Bears were named champions of the tournament.

In their Friday match against the Bulldogs, the Bears came out victorious with 3-0 win. Will Bagrou, Chandler Klemm and Jourdan Gooden registered goals.  The Bears outshot the Bulldogs 15-6 and were offensively unstoppable.

In their Sunday match, the Bears overwhelmed the Owls 3-0. Max Poore, Jourdan Gooden and Chandler Klemm recorded goals.

After on overall terrific performance by the Bears, four team members were named to all tournament team: Will Bagrou, Ashani Samuels, Jordan Duru and Ian Antley.

In the opening game of the ProRehab Aces Soccer Classic, the Bears dropped a hard fought battle against the Purple Aces of the University of Evansville.

Early in the first half, sophomore Max Poore scored the first goal of the game off of a penalty kick. The Purple Aces tied the game in the thirty-second minute and then overwhelmed the Bears for the rest of the game. The Aces score two more goals in the second half, and the final score was 3-2.

 

Volleyball

In arguably one of their hardest tournaments of the season, the Mercer Women’s Volleyball Team struggled throughout the Magnolia Invitational hosted by Ole Miss University.

In their first matchup of the weekend, the Bears fell to the Ole Miss Rebels 3-0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-18). Going into the match, the Rebels were 8-0 overall.

In their second matchup of the day, the Bears faced the University of Alabama at Birmingham Blazers. While the Bears took the first game, the Blazers took the match 3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-21). Molly Locke, junior outside for the Bears, collected her fifth double-double of the season with 16 kills and 13 digs. Cara Trip, senior middle blocker, led the team with seven total blocks.

In their last match of the weekend, the Bears took on the Jacksonville State University Gamecocks, and this was the second meeting between the two teams. In an extremely close game, the Gamecocks came out victorious, winning 3 games to 1 (24-26, 25-18, 26-24, 28-26). Molly Locke collected her second double-double of the weekend while Claire Walizcek, freshman setter for the Bears, also recorded a double-double. Jordan Gollon contributed with six total blocks while Tori Penrod recorded 18 digs.

In their final tournament before conference play starts, the Bears competed in the Lady Vol Classic at the University of Tennessee.

For their first game, the team fell to the University of Memphis 3-1 (27-29, 25-18, 25-23, 25-18). In the loss, junior Molly Locke piled up 17 kills and 11 digs. Tori Penrod, sophomore libero for the Bears, led the team with 18 digs.

In their second match of the day, the Bears fell to Austin Peay University in three straight sets (25-17, 25-23, 25-19). Ellie James, Monica Johnson and Molly Locke had seven kills while Penrod had 13 digs.

For their final match of the tournament, the Bears came to battle against the University of Tennessee Vols. After competing back and forth for five sets, the Bears fell to the Vols (25-21, 20-25, 25-20, 22-25, 15-13).

Claire Walizcek had a double-double with 34 assists and 11 digs. Locke also had a double-double with 20 kills and 11 digs. Ellie James, outsider hitter for the Bears, had a match high of 21 digs.

 

Men’s Golf

In the 2014 Tar Heel Intercollegiate, the Bears finished 12 out of 18 teams. The tournament field included big-time teams such as North Carolina University, Boston College and Maryland University.

On the final day of the tournament, the Bears finished with a score of 296. Overall, they concluded the Tar Heel Intercollegiate with a score of 876.

For the Bears, freshman Jerry Ren and sophomore Emmanuel Kountakis finished tied for twenty-third with an overall score of 217.

With a score of 218, senior Trey Rule finished in thirty-second place.

For their next tournament, the Bears will travel to Toledo, Ohio for the Inverness Intercollegiate on Sept. 26.

 

Women’s Golf

In its first tournament of the season, the Mercer Women’s Golf Team traveled to Waynesville, N.C. to participate in the Great Smokies Intercollegiate hosted by Western Carolina University.

Overall, the Bears finished third with a score of 584.

Sophomore Katy Harris tied for third place overall with a score of 143. Freshman Hannah Mae Deems tied for seventh place while Marin Hannah finished in tenth place.

The Bears are back in action on Sept. 29 at the Proehlific Fall Classic in Greensboro, N.C.

 

Men’s and Women’s Cross Country

On Sept. 6, both the men’s and women’s cross country team competed in the UGA Invitational in Athens, Ga., a tri-match among Mercer, the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech.

The men’s team ran in the 8000m race while the women’s team competed in the 5000m race.

With a time of 27:20.29, Junior Victor Kosgei led the men’s team. He placed sixth against the Bulldogs and tenth against the Yellow Jackets.

For the women’s team, junior Kami Orrender led the team with a time of 18:51.17. She placed sixth against Georgia and seventh against Georgia Tech.

For their next tournament, the Bears competed in the Asheville Cross Country Carnival in Asheville, N.C. The women’s team finished in fourth place and were led by fifth-place finisher Kami Orrender (18:08.14).

The men’s team finished in fifth place and was led by tenth-place finisher Victor Kosgei (25:43.52).