Kennesaw State Too Much For Mercer In Home Opener

Tuesday, September 2

Macon, Ga.

6 p.m.

Mercer University

0-4,0-0SoCon

Kennesaw State

2-1,0-0CUSA

Kennesaw St.

Mercer

Kennesaw State Too Much For Mercer In Home Opener

9/2/2025 7:58:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Kaylin Flukey, kaylin.flukey@live.mercer.edu

MACON, GA. - The Mercer volleyball team fell to Kennesaw State in the 2025 season home opener inside Hawkins Arena Tuesday night. Despite an energetic set-three win to force the match to four sets, the Bears were not able to top the Owls' electric offense.

The final stat sheet between the two squads was almost identical with Mercer sitting at a total of 45 kills, 43 digs and 14 blocks and Kennesaw State sat at 50 kills, 43 digs and 16 blocks. Sophia Henry led the Bears with 11 kills and also tallied seven digs on the night, the second-highest for Mercer. Setters Jessica Dunn and Sammi Bergjans combined for 34 assists while Aubri Martin led the defensive side with 11 digs.

Mercer begins a long stretch of road games this weekend at the Eagle Classic in Statesboro, Ga. from Sept. 3-7 where they will face Pacific, UNC Wilmington and Georgia Southern inside Hanner Fieldhouse.

MATCH SUMMARY
FINAL SCORE	Mercer 1, Kennesaw State 3 (15-25, 18-25, 25-19, 16-25)
RECORDS	Mercer 0-4, 0-0 SoCon; Kennesaw State 2-1, 0-0 CUSA
ARENA	Macon, Ga. (Hawkins Arena)

MATCH REPLAY
SET 1 I 15-25	The Owls started the match with an 8-0 lead before a kill from Charlotte Thompson got the Bears on the board. Mercer continued to fall behind, struggling to find the momentum they needed. A four-point service run from Jessica Dunn and two kills from Sydney VanCott gave Mercer some life at the 14-23 mark but was not enough to top the Owls in set one.
SET 2 I 18-25	Mercer struck first in set two off of a kill from freshman Lara Matta. Kennesaw State responded with a kill of their own and both squads exchanged points until a seven-point service run gave Kennesaw State a 12-3 advantage over Mercer. The Bears battled back putting the score at 12-19 after a kill from Sophia Henry but the Owls capped off set two with three kills coupled with a few errors from the Orange & Black.
SET 3 I 25-19	The Bears came to life in set three, out-hitting the Owls 15 kills to 10. Avery Wilks and Sophia Henry were lights out on the front row with 4 kills, respectively. Mercer went on more than four multi-point service runs to give them the edge over Kennesaw State in set three.
SET 4 \| 16-25	Set four began similarly to set one with the Owls getting an 8-0 advantage over the Bears. Following the run, the Owls offense erupted again hitting a total of 12 kills. The Bears began to rally back after a kill from Destiny Nelson at the 10-15 mark but was not enough to beat Kennesaw State's front line, moving the Owls record to 2-1 on the season.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
KILLS	Sophia Henry (11), Sydney VanCott (9), Avery Wilks (9)
ASSISTS	Jessica Dunn (20), Sammi Bergjans (14), Aubri Martin (5)
DIGS	Aubri Martin (11), Sophia Henry (7), Jessica Dunn (5)
BLOCKS	Joselynn Sanjurjo (4), Sydney VanCott, Avery Wilks, Destiny Nelson (3)
SERVICE ACES	Jessica Dunn, Sammi Bergjans (1)

UP NEXT
Mercer begins a long stretch of road games this weekend at the Eagle Classic in Statesboro, Ga. from Sept. 3-7 where they will face Pacific, UNC Wilmington and Georgia Southern inside Hanner Fieldhouse.

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