Mercer gets off the snide, defeats The Citadel at home

Mercer Women’s Volleyball had reason to celebrate Saturday as they defeated The Citadel 3-1 at home in Hawkins Arena. It was the first time the Bears celebrated in a while as they snapped a 6-game losing streak and got their first conference win of the season.

The win was the first in over two weeks dating back to Sept. 7. Before the game, first year Head Coach Derek Schroeder stressed that his team needed a good response after losing in straight sets to Wofford only a night before.

“Wofford came in and balled (Friday), they were incredible so we just want to be sure that we’re the type of team that puts together a good response after a loss like that at home,” Schroeder said.

Mercer came out and won the first two sets including an 8-3 run in the first that forced a timeout from Citadel Head Coach Craig Mosqueda. The Bears would end the second set on a 12-4 run led by Paige Alsten’s five kills.

The Bears dropped the third set after The Citadel responded to the halftime break with a 25-22 victory to extend the match. The Bears won the final set by a score of 25-21, spearheaded by a five-kill set from senior outside hitter Morgan MacGilvary.

MacGilvary led all players with 16 kills. She and fellow senior Emily Krogman would end the match with double-doubles. The Bears extend their all-time series lead over the Bulldogs to 8-0.

Afterward, MacGilvary said she was glad her team could get off the losing slide.

“It’s extremely important for us, because we need to get our momentum going and our energy going in the conference and we also need to figure everything out with our new system. I think today really helped because we figured it out,” MacGilvary said. “It’s been a process to adjust, but when we figure it out, it’s amazing.”

The Bears are back on the road this weekend with matches against UNCG on Friday and Western Carolina on Saturday.