Bears Take 2 of 3 in Bear Brawl

J. Andrew Lockwood
Senior Editor / Columnist

Mercer won their first two matches of the season last Friday and Saturday as they defeated Troy (3-0) and Bethune-Cookman (3-0) while narrowly losing to Furman (3-2). Junior Krista Hurley was named tournament MVP while teammates Rachel Urbelis and Ashley Skidmore were named to the All-Tournament Team.

After dropping the first three matches of the season in Atlanta to Austin Peay, Georgia, and Georgia Tech, the Mercer women looked strong all tournament long minus three sets against Furman. Replacing the large holes left on the roster by last year’s graduating class of Karen Dorris, Claire Tucker, and Kelly Jansen, sophomore Libero Ashley Skidmore played brilliantly while the net players (Libby Hansch, Erica Vrvilo, and Hurley) picked up the rest of the slack. Aggressively offensively and responsive defensively, the Bears looked to be in mid-season form for most of the tournament.

Their first contest against Troy appeared to be close after the Bears narrowly won the first set 25-22. However, a 25-10 second game set the tone of the rest of the match. The third set was controlled by the Bears as they finished off the Trojans 25-20. While most of Troy’s offense came from two players, Mercer saw a much more balanced attack from Hurley, Aimee Frutchey, and Vrvilo. Troy’s Meghan Gilroy and Brittany McClelland totaled a combined 22 kills, assisted by setter Megan Henderson (34 assists). Accuracy was a problem for the former A-Sun school as they converted only 40 of their 114 kill attempts with 22 errors (.158 hitting percentage). Hurley led the way for the Bears, totaling 11 kills against Troy while teammates Frutchey and Vrvilo chipped in 7 kills apiece. Head Coach Noelle Rooke’s 6-2 offense was headed by setters Chelsea Gebben (20 assists) and Nickie Halbert (15 assists). Defensively, Rachel Urbelis led the team in digs (13) with also adding five kills on offense.

The Friday night match against Furman looked to be a continuation of the Bears’ dominance earlier in the day. The first two sets went Mercer’s way 28-25 and 25-13, but an epic collapse in the final three sets saw the Southern Conference team escape the University Center with the victory. Continuing to smash the ball on offense, Rachel Urbelis accounted for 19 kills and 15 digs while Frutchey (10 kills, 15 digs) and Hurley (15 kills, 3 Block Assists) also had double digit offensive totals. Early in the match, the Paladins struggled from the left side of the net as Libby Hansch blocked everything that came her way. Hansch would finish with 4 solo blocks and 9 kills.

The major storyline of this match was Furman’s ability to change their strategy throughout the game. Hitting .333 and .381 in the final two sets, Kelly Kirby and Alexis Shaffer accounted for 37 of Furman’s 73 kills during the match. Setter Kelsey Salava had videogame-like stats with 65 sets and 22 digs. Despite an initial poor showing against Mercer’s defense, Coach Michelle Young changed up the offense to force the Bears to defend intermediate attacks. Unfortunately, the Bears’ backline struggled after the change to drop their fourth match of the season.

“I’m disappointed we lost, but I give credit where credit is due: Furman is a great team,” Rooke said at the close of the match. She added, “We played great today but unfortunately they came out on top.”

Saturday’s match against Bethune-Cookman was an easier one for Mercer as they cruised to a three set victory to improve to 2-4 on the season. Finishing out
the fifth annual Bear Brawl, Rooke was able to play most of the roster against the struggling Wildcats. Statistically, the standout of the match was Chelsea Gebben’s 30 assists but the real story of this match was the continuity and balance of Mercer’s offense. Seven Bears finished with 2 or more kills, to finish the night 41 for 113 with 17 errors (.212 hitting percentage).

Rooke commented after the match on MercerBears.com, “We played well enough to get the win today, but we still have room for improvement. We’re looking forward to starting conference play. Our youth stepped up and played a major role this weekend.”

Mercer now travels to Kennesaw State, USC-Upstate, and FAMU before returning back home to face Campbell and ETSU.