STATESBORO, Ga. – For the 17th time under Head Coach Greg Gibbons, the Pacific volleyball program completed the reverse sweep, taking down Mercer in five-sets (19-25, 21-25, 25-21, 25-21, 15-12) inside Hanner Fieldhouse at the Eagle Invitational.

Graduate Olivia Keller was a major factor in the comeback bid, turning in a match-high 15 kills and led all players with ten kills from set three through five. However, the kill swing was far from the only area in which Keller was a threat, adding two service aces, two block assists, 13 digs and an assist to her final ledger. In addition to posting her second career double-double, the Modesto native's two service aces match her career-best (last done in 2022 vs. San Francisco).

Right behind Keller offensively were freshman Hannah Koester and senior Logan Blutreich, who each put up 13 kills. For the latter the 13 kills are a new career-high and has posted double digit kills in consecutive matches for the first time in her career.

Meanwhile the former has reached double digit kills in every match of her collegiate career and a season total of 52, which makes her the third fastest Tiger of the past ten seasons to reach that milestone. Like Keller, Koester also set a new career-high from the service line, tallying three aces and tied for the match-high.

The Tiger she tied with was graduate Valentina Varani, who's three service aces also represent a new career-best and highlighted a day in which Pacific (3-1) out-aced Mercer (0-5) at the service line 10-7. Through four matches this season, Pacific has served up more aces than its opponent in each and is on track to reach 254 aces, which would be the most of the Gibbons era and just the second team since 2010 to eclipse 200 aces in a season.

Helping the trio of Tigers excel offensively was the sophomore combination of Alessia Couchond and Alyson Cox. Each student-athlete eclipsed the 20-dig mark with Cox gaining the slight 23-22 edge over her teammate. However, Couchond's 22 assists push her to 125 on the season to lead all Tigers in the category.

More than offensive facilitators, Cox and Couchond dug 12 balls apiece for their second consecutive double-doubles and represented two of the Tigers with double digit digs in the match alongside Keller. The fourth Tiger of which was senior Jayhlin Swain, who dug a match-high 21 balls defensively and was the first time this season the senior reached the 20-dig mark. Prior to the 21-dig effort, Swain had ranked 2nd in the conference in total digs and 48th in the country.

Looking ahead to tomorrow's match with Georgia Southern, the Tigers will look to stay unbeaten against mid-major competition when playing in the eastern time zone (8-0) as well as undefeated against competition from the Sun Belt Conference (2-0). First serve from Hanner Fieldhouse is scheduled for 3 pm pacific time and will be broadcast on ESPN+.

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