Volleyball Heads to Georgia to Compete in Mercer Invitational

MACON, Ga.- Southern Miss Volleyball heads to play in the Mercer Invitational on Friday and Saturday in Macon.

The Golden Eagles are looking to turn the page after competing in the Ellesyn Invitational hosted by Montana last weekend.

Despite the weekend ending with three losses, the Golden Eagles still made a statement.
Hayden Riddle marked a career-high 43 assists, while Sunni Sheppard was named to the Ellesyn Invitational All-Tournament team.

The Golden Eagles will compete against Presbyterian on Friday morning. They recently finished a close 302 match against Temple last weekend to advance to 2-5 (0-0 Big South).

Southern Miss leads The Blue Hose in assists per set, with 11.1 compared to Presbyterian's 9.1. Setters Riddle and Francesca Panunzio make up most of the contributions.

The Golden Eagles will play against Mercer that evening following the match.

Southern Miss leads the Bears with 15.0 digs per set, compared to Mercer's 12.3. Sheppard accounts for 30 percent of the Golden Eagles' 299 digs this season.

Mercer returns home after beating Kennesaw State in a four-set match to become 6-1 (0-0 SOCON).

To close out the Mercer Invitational, Southern Miss will play against Elon on Saturday. They are 4-4 (0-0 CAA) after beating Norfolk State 3-1.

The Golden Eagles have more digs per set and blocks per set than the Phoenix.

The Invitational Schedule is as follows:

FRIDAY, September 13

Southern Miss vs. Presbyterian: 10 a.m. CT/11 a.m. ET
Elon vs. Mercer: 12 p.m. CT/1 p.m. ET*
Elon vs. Presbyterian: 4 p.m. CT/5 p.m. ET
Southern Miss vs. Mercer: 6 p.m. CT/7 p.m. ET*

SATURDAY, September 14

Southern Miss vs. Elon: 10 a.m. CT/11 a.m. ET
Mercer vs. Presbyterian: 12 p.m. CT/ 1 p.m. ET*

*Games against Mercer will be streamed on ESPN+

To keep up with the Golden Eagles, follow @SouthernMissVB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for updates.

Volleyball Heads to Georgia to Compete in Mercer Invitational

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Players Mentioned

Francesca Panunzio

Hayden Riddle

Sunni Sheppard

University of Southern Mississippi Athletics