FORT MYERS, Fla. – Freshman Jill Hopper (Muncie, Ind./Yorktown HS) blasted a match-high 17 kills as the FGCU volleyball squad defeated Mercer 3-1 (25-20, 25-21, 24-26, 25-18) on Friday night.

With the win FGCU sweeps the season series between the teams and improves to 15-10 (8-3 A-Sun), while Mercer falls to 10-18 (3-8 A-Sun).

Hopper added nine digs and a block in the win. Redshirt senior Jelena Simic (Lazarevac, Serbia/Kolubara Technical/Seward County CC) recorded a double-double with 14 kills and 12 digs. Sophomore Kaitlin Holm (Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers HS/Marshall) racked up 10 kills, four digs and two blocks. Sophomore Jessica Barnes (Winter Haven, Fla./Haines City HS) finished with nine kills, five service aces and five digs. Freshman setter Gigi Meyer (Gainesville, Fla./Buchholz HS) finished with 43 assists. Senior libero Holly Youngquist (Estero, Fla./Evangelical Christian HS) chipped in with 15 digs and four assists.

Amiee Frutchey recorded 16 kills to lead Mercer, while Monica Sanchez added 37 assists and 13 digs for the Bears.

In the first set, with FGCU leading, 9-8, the Eagles used a 4-1 run to push ahead 13-9 and never looked back. The Green and Blue would hold at least a two-point advantage for the remainder of the frame.

In the second set, after a Simic kill put the Eagles ahead 21-20, FGCU finished the set on a 4-1 spurt to take the game, 25-21.

 In the third set, Mercer fell behind 6-1, thanks to several service aces by Barnes, before employing an 18-8 run that gave the them take their largest lead of the evening (19-14). The Bears went on to win the set 26-24 on back-to-back kills by Charlayna Braxton and Frutchey.

In the fourth set the Eagles shot out to an early 6-1 lead. This time, FGCU would not relinquish their lead and went on to win the set, 25-18

The Eagles will be back in action Saturday afternoon when they host BIG EAST foe Villanova on 'Senior Day' starting at 4 p.m. Live stats for the match will be available on www.FGCUAthletics.com.