Bears Split Opening-Day Action At Sun Belt Conference Tournament

Thursday, April 24

Foley, Ala.

11:30 a.m.

Mercer University

Louisiana Monroe

Bears Split Opening-Day Action At Sun Belt Conference Tournament

4/24/2025 6:39:00 PM | Beach Volleyball

ULM Box Score CCU Box Score

By: Todd Anderson, anderson_t02@mercer.edu

FOLEY, Ala. – Kate Hardie and Sydney Benson rallied back from an opening-set loss to give fourth-seeded Mercer the match-clinching point in a 4-1 win over fifth-seeded Louisiana Monroe, but the Bears dropped a tough 3-2 setback to top-seeded Coastal Carolina in the nightcap to cap first-round action on Thursday afternoon at the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.

Mercer (24-12) will now await an opponent for its 2 p.m. ET contenders bracket matchup at the Foley Event Center in coastal Alabama. The Bears will draw the winner of Saturday's early matchup between sixth-seeded Southern Miss and seventh-seeded College of Charleston, both of whom dropped their only matches on Thursday.

MU got unblemished days from both its Nos. 3 and 4 pairs, but both tandems were forced to a third set in one of their matchups. Hardie and Benson rallied back from an opening-set loss in the morning matchup with Louisiana Monroe (13-21) with 21-16 and 15-10 triumphs in the second and third sets, respectively, but followed with a straight-sets victory over the No. 3 pair from Coastal Carolina (21-12).

The all-conference pair of Kathryn Corbett and Nicole O'Mara eased through its morning matchup with the Warhawks, but were forced to a third set by CCU's Raychel Ehlers and Ava Novello before wrapping it up with a 16-14 decision.