Volleyball Holds Off Samford For Fifth Straight Home Win

Tuesday, October 27

Macon, Ga.

6 p.m.

Mercer University

14-10,8-4SoCon

Samford

10-12,6-4SoCon

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Samford	21	16	25	25	11	2
Mercer	25	25	15	22	15	3

Jasmine Calton Attack, Samford Recap Home

10/27/2026 9:30:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Ben Kinealy, Kinealy_ben@mercer.edu

MACON, Ga. – Mercer Volleyball took the first two sets and held on to defeat the Samford Bulldogs in five on Tuesday night to remain undefeated at home during SoCon play.

The Bulldogs made their presence known at the net, recording 24 block assists and four solo blocks throughout the five sets, including eight blocks that in the fourth set. However, the Bears were just too much offensively, as three players recorded 15+ kills with Taylor Timko leading the way with 19. Lara Matta recorded a double-double with 15 kills and 13 digs while adding two service aces. Joselynn Sanjurjo also recorded 15 kills with a .321 hitting percentage and added two blocks. Defensively, Aubri Martin made a strong return to the back row, totaling a career best 29 digs while adding six assists.

MATCH SUMMARY
FINAL SCORE	Mercer 3, Samford 2 (25-21, 25-16, 15-25, 22-25, 15-11)
RECORDS	Mercer 14-10, 8-4 SoCon; Samford 10-12, 7-5 SoCon
ARENA	Hawkins Arena (Macon, Ga.)

MATCH REPLAY
SET 1 I 25-21	The Bears dropped the first point of the set before rattling off four straight to take the lead. Mercer proceeded to take seven of the next 11 points and later went on a three-point run to eventually have a 15-8 lead heading into the media timeout. Mercer went on a four-point run out of the timeout before the Bulldogs responded with five of their own. After a small back-and-forth, the two teams exchanged three-point runs and the Bulldogs went on another run of three straight before a service error gave the Bears a 25-21 set victory.
SET 2 I 25-16	With a new boost in confidence, the Bears earned seven of the first eight points in the second set to go up 7-1 on the Bulldogs and later used a four-point run to go up 11-2. Samford responded with four straight points and clawed back to within four before Mercer responded with three straight to establish a 15-8 lead once again. The Bulldogs continued to fight back, making the score 19-15 before Mercer shut the door by winning six of the next seven points, including a four-point run, to end the second set with a 25-16 victory.
SET 3 I 15-25	The Bulldogs had a point to prove in the third set, jumping ahead to a 4-1 lead. Mercer battled back to tie the set at five in the early goings, but a four-point run from Samford reestablished their lead at 11-6. The Bears fought back to bring the match to within two, but Samford went on a six-point run to extend their lead to 19-11 and then traded points with the Bears until the score was 22-15. The Bulldogs quickly ended the set at that point by taking the final three points to win the third set 25-15.
SET 4 \| 22-25	The two teams were deadlocked early in the fourth set before the Bears went on a three-point run to take a 7-5 lead. The two teams went back-and-forth once again but Samford used a four-point rally to go up 11-9 and later used a five-point run to go up 16-11 on the Bears. Mercer responded with five straight points of their own to tie the set and later used a four-point run to go up 22-20, but the Bulldogs immediately followed by taking the final five points to win set four.
SET 5 \| 15-11	Samford took an early 2-1 lead before the Bears earned the next five points to go up 6-2. The Bulldogs refused to go away, winning the next four to tie the final set at six apiece as the two teams went back to trading blows until the set was tied at 10. Mercer took control, earning five of the final six points with the help of a Lara Matta kill and service ace, an Avery Wilks kill, and a Taylor Timko kill to finish off the match.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
KILLS	Taylor TImko (19), Lara Matta (15), Joselynn Sanjurjo (15), Joselynn Sanjurjo (10)
ASSISTS	Sammi Bergjans (50), Aubri Martin (6), Brooke Kaoui (1)
DIGS	Aubri Martin (29), Lara Matta (13), Emily Matias-Lopez (11)
BLOCKS	Avery Wilks (3), Joselynn Sanjurjo (2), Taylor Timko (2)
SERVICE ACES	Sammi Bergjans (4), Lara Matta (2), Emily Matias-Lopez (1)