 The duo from Mercer was the first team from the University and the state of Georgia to attend the NPTE, the most prestigious parliamentary debate tournament in the nation.Also in 2015, the Hancock-Pilkinton duo became the first Mercer team to win the Georgia Parliamentary Debate Association State Championships, with Hancock being the first woman to win the state title.Mercer fields eighteen (18) teams, known as the Bears, on the NCAA Division I level (FCS, formerly I-AA, for football); all teams compete in the Southern Conference except women's sand volleyball, which is not sponsored by the SoCon, and thus competes in the Atlantic Sun Conference.