MACON, Ga. — Playoff season has officially arrived in Central Georgia -- and it's more than just high school football.
This week, the Mercer Bears volleyball program wrap the regular season, and they'll more than likely do it as the top team in the Southern Conference.
On Saturday, the Bears put a bow on their home slate with a convincing 3-0 win over East Tennessee State, pushing Mercer's in-conference record to 11-3 on the year. The Bears' final two matches will take place on the road -- Wednesday night at Samford, followed by a matchup with Furman on Friday. Mercer will need to win just one of those two to ensure a top seed in the Southern Conference tournament, which begins next week.
Just in case the hottest team in the SoCon needed any more help, this year's tournament will take place at Samford, where head coach Derek Schroeder's club heads this week.
"We get a dress rehearsal in there you know 10 days before the conference tournament. I'm really excited about that," Schroeder said. "We're going to take a practice, we're going to do some visualization in that gym, just so we feel comfortable and we feel ready to go in there. So that's going to be the biggest thing next week."
Now in their 36th year of volleyball as a program, Mercer will look to capture its first-ever conference tournament title, beginning next week.