GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG volleyball team ran its winning streak to eight straight matches Wednesday night as the Spartans grinded out a 3-2 (30-28, 23-25, 25-23, 23-25, 17-15) victory over Southern Conference foe Mercer at Hawkins Arena. The victory improves the Spartans to 18-8 on the year and 8-3 in SoCon play while becoming just the second team this season to come away from Hawkins Arena with a victory.

Sophomore Ashley Muench (Hurdle Mills, N.C./Orange) led the Spartans' attack, posting a career-high 24 kills to go along with 13 digs. Muench started off her night with authority, recording eight kills in the first set and continued throughout the match, helping the Spartans record the back-and-forth victory.

Junior outside hitter Jessica Brezwyn (Darien, Ill./Hillsdale South) added 14 kills while senior Julia Westerbur (College Station, Texas/SMU) chipped in 11 kills and five blocks. Freshman setter Allison Penner (Aurora, Neb./Aurora) ran the offense and handed out 58 assists while posting 17 digs defensively. Senior Katherine Santiago (San Juan, Puerto Rico) led the team with 20 digs as UNCG recorded 80 digs in the match.

Emily Krogman led Mercer (9-14, 4-7) 13 kills and eight blocks in the loss. Morgan MacGilvary added 13 kills and 13 digs while Tori Penrod tallied a match-high 22 digs. The Bears only had 54 kills compared to 68 by the Spartans but finished the night with 14 service aces.

The back-and-forth contest was tightly fought from the beginning as UNCG opened the first substantial lead of the night at 20-16 with a 6-1 run. Mercer responded with a 6-2 run of its own to tie the game at 22-22 and the Bears had a set point at 25-24. Junior Alexis Mourier (Elkview, W.Va./George Washington) came up with a big kill to keep the game going and UNCG would eventually close out the set on back-to-back kills by Muench taking it 30-28.

The second set was much the same with teams trading posting back in forth before a Westerbur kill gave UNCG a 21-18 lead and forced a Mercer timeout. The Bears responded to the timeout and closed out the set on a 7-2 run to tie the match. Mercer recorded two service aces down the stretch and finished set two with five aces.

Set three continued the trend of the tightly played match with UNCG opening an early lead at 10-6 on consecutive kills by redshirt freshman Jasmine Jones (Stafford, Va./Brooke Point) and Muench. Mercer was able to claw back and took a 17-16 lead as it capped a 7-2 run on a UNCG attack error. The Spartans showed their mettle and rallied to tie the game at 20-20, before pulling away for a 25-23 lead as Mourier tallied an ace and Brezwyn ended the set with a kill.

Mercer was able to force a fifth and deciding set by claiming a 25-23 victory in set four. The Spartans held a late 22-20 lead after Mercer committed back-to-back attack errors but the Bears closed on a 5-1 run to take the set. UNCG struggled offensively in the fourth set, committing 12 attack errors and hitting .000.

Mercer looked primed to take home the victory as it used the momentum from the fourth set win to run out to a 10-6 lead in the fifth set. The Spartans called a timeout and this time they responded, notching a 5-1 run to tie the game at 11-11. Jones ignited the run by recording two kills and securing a big solo block to swing the momentum back to the Spartans' side.

The game remained knotted at 14-14 before Mercer took the lead and had set point at 15-14. The Spartans were able to force the Bears into two straight attack errors setting the stage for their own match point, which they didn't waste as Muench sealed the victory with a service ace. Jones and Westerbur were key in the fifth set as they each recorded four kills to help push the Spartans to victory.

The Spartans will look to continue their winning ways Saturday as they travel to Charleston, S.C., to face The Citadel. Game time is set for 6 p.m.

-UNCG-