BIRMINGHAM, ALA. – The second semifinal of the SoCon Volleyball Championship was another five-setter as Mercer, the No. 2 seed, held on to defeat No. 3 seed Western Carolina in thrilling fashion. With the win (25-18, 25-20, 23-25, 19-25, 15-11), the Bears advance to Sunday’s championship final where they’ll square off against top-seed and fellow regular-season co-champion Samford. The championship appearance is Mercer’s first since joining the league in 2014-15.
 
Mercer got on the board first in set one and never trailed as the Bears hit .392 and held Western Carolina to just .057 as a team. Up 13-6, Mercer forced Western Carolina head coach Karen Glover to use a timeout, but the Bears’ momentum continued out of the break as the squad ran their lead to eight at 17-9. From there, Western Carolina outscored Mercer 9-8, but the late effort wasn’t enough as Mercer won 25-18.
 
The second set was tightly contested, featuring 13 ties and six lead changes. The lead was never more than three for either school until Mercer went up 19-15. Kills by Malia Randolph, Lexi Uhrhan and Annie Karle pushed the Bears’ lead to 22-15, the largest of the set. Western Carolina went on a 3-0 run to cut the lead to four, 22-18, and Mercer head coach Derek Schroeder, the SoCon Coach of the Year, called a timeout. The timeout worked as his squad won three of the next five, good enough to clinch the set 25-20 and take a 2-0 lead.
 
Western Carolina jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the third set. Mercer pulled within one, 4-3, but Western Carolina extended the lead, 10-5. Tied at 13, Western Carolina pulled away for a slight lead until Mercer tied the match at 22, looking to rally for a three-set sweep. All square at 23, the Catamounts got a kill from first-team all-conference performer Merry Gebel before a Mercer attack error sealed the 25-23 win for Western Carolina and forced a fourth set. After hitting .000 in the second set, the Catamounts hit .317 in the third set and found their rhythm offensively.
 
The teams traded points to begin the fourth set. Knotted at 4, Western Carolina used a 10-5 run to lead 14-9, pushing it to as many as seven points, 21-14. Mercer had another valiant rally down the stretch, but the Catamounts held on for a 25-19 win to send the match to a decisive fifth set.
 
Mercer never trailed in the fifth and final set. Down 3-0, Western Carolina got back-to-back kills from Johnna Robinson and Gebel to cut the lead to one, but Mercer kept the pressure on, extending the lead to five at 10-5. The Catamounts cut the deficit to three at 12-9 and 13-10, but never got closer as Mercer won 15-11 and sealed the five-set victory.
 
Four Bears finished with double-digit kills, led Karle (16), a first-team all-conference selection. Brittany Major, a second-team all-conference performer, finished with 15 kills while Taylor Lynch hit .375 with 14 kills and Jaida Howell, a first-team all-conference pick, tallied 11 kills. Karle led all players with 24 digs, giving her a double-double. Megan Smith had 23 digs, while setters Agnieska Paskevic and Malia Randolph split setter duties and finished with 33 and assists, respectively.
 
Western Carolina was led by Gebel, who totaled a match-high 22 kills, hitting .345 in the loss. Destinee Dorsey, the Libero of the Year, and Julia Gardon, an All-Freshman team selection, led the Catamounts with 15 digs, just ahead of Gebel’s 13. Setter Hannah Price led all players with 40 assists.
 
Samford and Mercer met in the opening weekend of conference play on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, splitting the series in Macon, Georgia, as Samford won the first match, 3-0, Mercer won the second, 3-1.
 
2020-21 Southern Conference Volleyball Championship
Pete Hanna Center ? Birmingham, Ala.

Friday, April 2
Semifinals
Match 1: No. 1 Samford 3, No. 4 Wofford 2
Match 2: No. 2 Mercer 3, No. 3 Western Carolina 2

Saturday, April 3
Championship
Match 3: No. 1 Samford vs. No. 2 Mercer, 4 p.m. CT (ESPN+)