Volleyball Travels to Samford for Midweek Match

MACON, Ga. – Mercer Volleyball will travel to Birmingham, Ala. to face the Samford Bulldogs on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. ET for their first of two midweek matchups this conference season.

Mercer Bears

The Bears have started off SoCon play 3-1 with all of their conference matches finishing in three sets thus far. This past weekend Mercer took the first match against ETSU before dropping the second one on Saturday. Aubri Martin and Sammi Bergjans have continued to shine during conference play, as both of them lead the SoCon in digs/set and assists/set, respectively, over the past two weeks. Lara Matta also had a strong showing this past weekend, recording 25 kills (4.17 kills/set) with 13 digs, three service aces, and one block. Bergjans totaled 65 assists (10.83 assists/set), 13 digs, and one kill over the weekend against the Buccaneers. Martin registered 31 digs (5.17 digs/set), eight assists, and one service ace. This match wraps up the Bears' three-match road trip, as they will host Tennessee Tech on Friday for their annual Pink Game and on Saturday for their Alumni Game.

Samford Bulldogs

The Bulldogs dropped five of their first six matches to start the season, but have turned it around, going 5-3 in their last eight matches, including a 3-1 conference record. Samford is coming off a split weekend against the Western Carolina Catamounts that saw them drop their first match on Thursday in four sets before rebounding to pick up the win on Friday in five sets. The Bulldogs have been led offensively by Ally Cordes, who leads the SoCon during conference play in kills with 72, and ranks second in kills/set with 4.24. The Bulldogs are extremely strong up front, as Hazel Slusher, Janie Stinchcomb, and Maggie Kalisz represent three of the top five block leaders in the SoCon during conference play. The Bulldogs have also shown to be a strong serving team with three players holding a position in the top 10 in service aces during conference play.