Aug. 31, 2002

Box Score

STATESBORO, Ga. - Brooke Berryman, Angela Smith, and Alyssa Whitehead each recorded double-doubles as the Samford Bulldogs defeated Charleston Southern 3-1 for their first victory of the season Saturday afternoon at the Georgia Southern Invitational.

Samford (1-2) was led offensively by Hilary Gary who recorded career-high 18 kills and five block assists. Stefanie Pickett had 14 kills to give the Bulldogs five hitters with at least 10 kills. Berryman recorded career highs with 13 kills and 15 digs for the first double double of her career. Smith had 12 kills, 11 digs while Whitehead had 10 kills and 14 digs.

The Bulldogs won the first two games of the match 30-20 and 30-28. Charleston Southern (0-3) took game three 30-27, but the Bulldogs came back to take game four and the match 30-23. Samford record a season-high 64 digs in the match and out hit the Lady Bucs .261-.163.

"We are starting to play as a team now," said Samford head coach Kris Dorn after his first victory as a head coach. "Angela had a great match today. She only had one error and in 28 attacks. Krista (Kettering) is getting into the flow of using the middle attack and keeping the defense off balance. Our defense was better today, we pick up a lot of balls we weren't getting to yesterday. It is great to get a win, but it is nicer to see us play as a team and see everyone contribute."

Charleston Southern was led by Becky Miller who had 17 kills and Holly Bates who had 12 kills and 17 digs. The Bulldogs out blocked CSU 9-4 and were in control of the match throughout.

Samford will play its final match of the tournament against a familiar foe. The Bulldogs will face Atlantic Sun Conference rival Georgia State at 5 p.m. ET. The match does not count as a conference match but the Bulldogs will be looking to finish the GSU Tournament with a .500 record.