Mercer Volleyball Faces Florida A&M in Home Opener

MACON, Ga. – Mercer Volleyball comes home after an eight-game road trip to start the season to face the Florida A&M Rattlers on Tuesday, Sept. 15 at 6 p.m. in Hawkins Arena.

MERCER BEARS

The Bears (4-4) went 2-1 at the UWG Volleyball Classic with Lara Matta, Joselynn Sanjurjo, and Avery Wilks all earning All-Tournament Team honors. The Bears took down LSU New Orleans in a 3-0 sweep on Friday night before dropping their Saturday morning bout to the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs. The Bears rebounded to pull off a reverse sweep on the hosting West Georgia Wolves. Aubri Martin continued her great play, recording 53 digs, 19 assists, and four service aces over the weekend. She also recorded a career-high 25 digs Saturday morning against Gardner-Webb and she recorded her second double-double of the season Saturday night against West Georgia. Taylor Timko played a huge part in Mercer's comeback win over West Georgia, totaling 16 kills with a .375 hitting percentage.

FLORIDA A&M Rattlers

The Rattlers (4-5) have had an up-and-down start to their 2026 campaign. They went 1-2 at the Betty K. Austin Invitational and the Dolphin Volleyball Classic, but they are coming off a 2-1 weekend at their home tournament that saw them take down Louisiana and Hampton, both in five sets. The Rattlers are led offensively by LaDonna Trantham, who leads the team with 111 kills (3.58 kills/set) and 11 service aces (0.35 service aces/set). She was also the only Rattler to be selected to the Preseason All-SWAC First Team. On top of Trantham's Preseason All-SWAC First Team selection, the Rattlers also saw three other players get picked for the Preseason All-SWAC Second Team in outside hitter Sydney Whitfield, middle blocker Farah Farooq, and setter Makenzie Taylor. Florida A&M was picked to finish first in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, receiving six first place votes.