Beach Bears Match Program Wins Record, Split At JU Senior Weekend

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Host Jacksonville eked out a match-deciding victory on Court No. 3 to top Mercer, 3-2, in a noon matchup, but the Bears used a 4-1 triumph over Eckerd in a late-afternoon contest to match a school record for victories on Saturday afternoon at the JU Senior Weekend round-robin tournament.

Mercer (17-9) tacked up its 17^th victory of the 2025 campaign to match a 1-year-old school record with the win over the Tritons (6-15), while also improving to 6-0 in the 8-year-old series with Eckerd. The Dolphins (8-13) snapped a six-match losing streak with the win over the Orange & Black.

MU's No. 2 tandem of Liv Diaz and Jordan Paddock, as well as its No. 3 pair of Kate Hardie and Sydney Benson, both posted 2-0 clips on the afternoon. Diaz/Paddock rebounded from an opening-set loss in the match with Jacksonville to eventually register a 15-7 decision in the deciding third set, and followed that up with a dominant 21-15, 21-9 win against Eckerd.

Hardie/Benson toughed out a 22-20, 21-19 win over Jacksonville's Kristina Nika and Hayden Garnett, and then, likewise, overcame an opening set loss against the Tritons with 21-12 and 17-15 victories in the second and third sets, respectively.

The Orange & Black will get a 9 a.m. rematch with Eckerd on Saturday at Dolphin Beach, and close out their stay in northeast Florida at 1 p.m. against Webber. The Warriors are ranked 8^th in the latest NAIA Coaches Top 10 Rating.

Beach Bears Match Program Wins Record, Split At JU Senior Weekend

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Players Mentioned

Sydney Benson

Liv Diaz

Kate Hardie

Jordan Paddock

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