MACON, Ga. – With an opportunity to advance to the conference tournament on the line, Troy State stepped up and won a key Trans America Athletic Conference match against Mercer, 3-0.

Troy State (16-7, 2-3) fell behind 3-1 early on three service aces. Mercer (6-20, 0-4) ranks 13th in the nation in service aces and had 13 in the match, four in the first game. The Trojans came back to take a brief 4-3 lead, but the Lady Bears would jump out to a 8-4 lead. Troy State would battle back to tie the game at twelve, and battled off three Mercer game points to claim game one, 16-14.

Game two began as game three, with Mercer jumping out to a 5-1 lead. But the trojans would come back again and tie the game at six. The two teams would swap points before Mercer would score four unanswered to take a 14-10 lead. The Trojans would fight off four game points to claim game two, 16-14.

Game three began with Troy State jumping out early, taking a 5-2 lead on a service ace by Emily Larson, her fourth of the match. Mercer would come back to tie the game at 10 on a solo block by Kristin Namenye. This time it was Troy State who would have five game points before finishing off the scrappy Lady Bears, 15-12.

Erika Vanhootegem led the Trojan attack with a double-double, getting 19 kills and 10 digs. Haven Triboulet added 15 kills. Rachel Hassan had nine kills and 12 digs, with Emily Larson directing the offense with 46 assists while chipping in with 11 digs.

Troy State goes home to face in-state rival Birmingham-Southern, Tuesday. First serve is set for 7:30 p.m.