Oct. 22, 2002

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The Samford Bulldogs and Mercer Bears will not be in what one would call an ideal situation heading into tonight's 6 p.m. CT Atlantic Sun volleyball match. The two teams are in a virtual tie for eighth place in the conference and only the top six will qualify for the Conference Tournament in Orlando, Fla., beginning Nov. 22.

Samford snapped a two-match losing streak and kept their tournament hopes alive with a 3-2 victory over Jacksonville on Saturday. Alyssa Whitehead led the 'Dogs with a career-high 24 kills while Hilary Gary added 20 kills. Brooke Berryman and Stefanie Pickett had 14 and 10 kills. Whitehead added 17 digs for her 10th double-double of the season. Samford must win all of its four remaining conference games to have a chance at finishing in the top six and qualifying for the conference tournament.

Mercer has won two-straight against Gardner-Webb and Campbell. Katie Plummer leads the Bears with 335 and she leads the conference with 431 digs. As a team, Mercer leads the Atlantic Sun in digs averaging 18.0 digs per game. Mercer is also in a must win position as it needs to win its final two conference matches and hope for some help to qualify for the post season.

Gary set a season high with her 26-kill performance against Stetson. She has had four 20-kill matches in her last five outings. Stefanie Pickett is in third place on Samford's all-time block assist list. She now has 248 career block assists and trails Shellie Ouldhouse (1998-2001) by 22 blocks. Krista Kettering has 2,770 career assists and is third on the all time assists list. She trails second place Jennifer Hays (1994-97) by 188 assists.

Kettering had seven service aces against JU on Saturday and she has taken over the conference lead in aces. She is also second in the conference in assists per game. Pickett is third in the league in blocking. As a team, Samford is second in blocking and third in kills and assists.

Samford has more wins over Mercer than any other opponent. The Bulldogs are 25-4 all-time against the Bears. Samford has won six-straight in the series. Mercer's last win in the series came 3-2 on Oct. 26, 1996.