Mercer Volleyball Faces East Tennessee State in First Conference Road Trip

MACON, Ga. – Mercer Volleyball will travel to Johnson City, Tenn. to face the ETSU Buccaneers this weekend in the first conference road trip of the season.

Mercer Bears

The Bears kicked off conference play last weekend, sweeping The Citadel Bulldogs in both matches to start SoCon play 2-0. Mercer took home two of three SoCon awards last weekend after Aubri Martin led the conference in digs per set and Sammi Bergjans did the same in assists per set. Martin finished the weekend averaging 5.5 digs/set after recording 18 on Friday and 15 against Saturday. She added one service aces and one assist on to her impressive performance on the back row. Bergjans averaged 11.83 assists per set last weekend, totaling 32 on Friday while recording a double-double on Saturday with 39 assists and 10 digs. Bergjans' Setter of the Week marked the first time she won the award in her collegiate career, while Martin earned her second Defensive Player of the Week award. Bella Pons also turned in a strong performance in her first start in the Orange and Black, recording 11 kills on a .538 hitting percentage on Friday, finishing the weekend with 18 kills and a .417 hitting percentage.

The ETSU Buccaneers

The Buccaneers have struggled to start their season, going 2-11 in their opening 13 matches while facing some tough opponents along the way. ETSU dropped their first six matches of the season with three of the six going to five sets before taking their first win against East Carolina. They dropped their next match to Wake Forest in five sets before taking down South Carolina for their second win of the season. The Buccaneers have dropped their past four matches, including their first conference matches to Samford, both of which went to four sets. The team has been led offensively by Makayla Bays, who has recorded 164 kills (2.93 kills/set) and 20 service aces (.36 service aces/set), while ranking second on the team in digs at 2.39 digs/set. Karis Chatfield was a strong force for ETSU in last weekend's conference opener against Samford, as she totaled 31 kills, 24 digs, three blocks, and a service ace. On the season, she has ranked second in kills on the team with 155 (2.77 kills/set) and recorded a .274 hitting percentage.