Mercer Volleyball Defeats North Dakota on Friday Night

Friday, September 4

Grand Forks, N.D.

7 p.m.

Mercer University

2-2,0-0SoCon

North Dakota

1-3,0-0Summit League

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Mercer	20	25	25	25	3
North Dakota	25	23	21	16	1

Mercer Volleyball vs. North Dakota Image

Mercer Volleyball Defeats North Dakota on Friday Night

9/5/2026 12:30:00 AM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Ben Kinealy, Kinealy_ben@mercer.edu

Grand Forks, N.D. – Mercer Volleyball defeated the North Dakota Fighting Hawks in four sets after winning the final three sets on Friday.

The Bears struggled early in the match against North Dakota, but they found their groove as the match went on, led by Avery Wilks with 13 kills and a .417 hitting percentage. Sammi Bergjans, Lara Matta, and Brooklyn Palmer each recorded double-doubles. After dropping the first set, the Bears came back and maintained control over the next three sets to record their second win of the season.

MATCH SUMMARY
FINAL SCORE	Mercer 3, North Dakota 1 (20-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-16)
RECORDS	Mercer 2-2, 0-0 SoCon; North Dakota 1-3, 0-0 Summit League
ARENA	Betty Engelstad Sioux Center

MATCH REPLAY
SET 1 I 20-25	The Fighting Hawks jumped out ahead early with a four-point run and the Bears responded with three straight points of their own. The teams went back and forth for a bit, but Mercer went on a four-point run to take an 11-10 lead. North Dakota fought back and took the lead, not relinquishing it to win the first set 25-20.
SET 2 I 25-23	Mercer and North Dakota went back and forth with neither team scoring more than two straight points until the Bears went on a seven-point run to take a 19-12 lead. The Fighting Hawks battled back with seven of eight points to bring the set within two points, but the Bears shut the door to take the second set 25-23.
SET 3 I 25-21	The Bears came out firing in the third set, earning the first four points before the Fighting Hawks came back with four of their own. Both teams continued to go back-and-forth until the Bears went on a late run, taking six of seven points to make the score 22-16. For the second consecutive set, North Dakota fought back to cut the deficit to three, but Mercer held on to win the third set 25-21.
SET 4 \| 25-16	The Bears and Fighting Hawks exchanged blows to start the fourth set before Mercer went on a six-point rally to make it 11-5. The Fighting Hawks rallied to bring the score within one, but Mercer stayed ahead with another four-point run to keep a 17-12 lead. The Bears closed out the set 25-16 to secure the match victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
KILLS	Avery Wilks, Brooklyn Palmer (13), Lara Matta (12)
ASSISTS	Sammi Bergjans (43), Aubri Martin (6), Lara Matta (2)
DIGS	Aubri Martin (21), Lara Matta (19), Brooklyn Palmer (13)
BLOCKS	Avery Wilks (5), Joselynn Sanjurjo, Lara Matta (3)
SERVICE ACES	Brooklyn Palmer (3), Aubri Martin, Brooke Kaoui (2)