Mercer Volleyball Falls to Gardner-Webb in Five Set Thriller

Saturday, September 12

Carrollton, Ga.

10 a.m.

Mercer University

3-4,0-0SoCon

Gardner-Webb

5-4,0-0Big South

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Mercer	25	25	26	20	12	2
Gardner-Webb	18	19	28	25	15	3

Team Huddle recap graphic vs. Gardner-Webb

Mercer Volleyball Falls to Gardner-Webb in Five Set Thriller

9/12/2026 1:30:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Ben Kinealy, Kinealy_ben@mercer.edu

Carrollton, Ga. – Mercer Volleyball took an early two set lead but couldn't overcome their 15 service errors, dropping the second match of the UWG Volleyball Classic to the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs.

The Bears had the advantage for a majority of the match, but the attack and service errors caught up to them late in the final three sets.

MATCH SUMMARY
FINAL SCORE	Mercer 2, Gardner-Webb 3 (25-18, 25-19, 26-28, 20-25, 12-15)
RECORDS	Mercer 3-4, 0-0 SoCon; Gardner-Webb 5-4, 0-0 BSC
ARENA	The Coliseum (Carrollton, Ga.)

MATCH REPLAY
SET 1 I 25-18	The Bears and Runnin' Bulldogs went back-and-forth for the early portions of the first set with Mercer pulling ahead with a five-point run to extend their lead to 17-10. Gardner-Webb brought the match to within four but the Bears took the final three points to win the first set 25-18.
SET 2 I 25-19	Gardner-Webb regained the momentum early in the second set, jumping out to a 7-3 lead before the Bears took eight of the next 11 points to take a 11-10 lead. Both teams continued to battle, but a late four-point rally from Mercer gave them a 20-17 lead, and they later took the final five points of the set to win 25-19.
SET 3 I 26-28	Gardner-Webb had the advantage for the majority of the early-goings, taking a 13-8 lead over the Bears. Mercer rallied with a five-point run to tie the game at 15, but the Runnin' Bulldogs responded by taking nine of the next 15 points to put the Bears on the ropes at 24-21. Mercer took the next four points to keep the match alive, but Gardner-Webb battled back to take the third set 28-26.
SET 4 \| 25-20	Mercer attempted to retake the momentum in the fourth set with a four-point rally that gave them a 10-6 lead, but Gardner-Webb clawed their way back with a four-point rally of their own. Mercer had an 18-15 advantage later in the set, but the Runnin' Bulldogs took 10 of the final 12 points to secure the fourth set.
SET 5 \| 15-12	Neither team had more than a two-point lead on the other for the majority of the final set with the score sitting at 12-11 in favor of the Bears before Gardner-Webb tallied off the final four points to win the set and the match.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
KILLS	Avery Wilks (15), Joselynn Sanjurjo (14), Lara Matta (14)
ASSISTS	Sammi Bergjans (48), Aubri Martin (7), Taylor Timko (2)
DIGS	Aubri Martin (25), Sarah Frager (17), Lara Matta (14)
BLOCKS	Sammi Bergjans (4), Joselynn Sanjurjo (2), Avery Wilks (1)
SERVICE ACES	Brooke Kaoui (5), Sarah Frager (3), Aubri Martin (2)