Oct. 8, 2003

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Alyssa Whitehead recorded a career-high 28 kills on 51 swings and posted a .451 hitting percentage to lead Samford to a 3-1 victory over cross-town rival Birmingham-Southern in front of a Striplin Center record 415 on Wednesday night.

Whitehead finished with 28 kills and 20 digs for her third double-20 of the season. Hilary Gary chipped in 18 kills and Kristin Berryman had 14 kills to lead the Bulldogs who finished with a .284 attack percentage and 89 digs.

The Bulldogs have now won four of their last five non-conference matches and finished their five-match road trip with a 3-2 record to move to 7-10 on year. Birmingham-Southern dropped to 7-8.

Southern was led by Jana Smelley who had 18 kills and 20 digs and Danielle Graff with 15 kills and 18 digs. Cassie Reed and Sarah Martin had 14 and 10 kills respectively. The Panthers had a .247 attack percentage and finished with 77 digs.

In the opener, BSC jumped out to an early 15-11 lead aided by six kills from Graff. The Bulldogs went on a 15-8 run to go on top 26-19. Berryman had five kills and Pickett recorded the 300th block assist of her career to aid the comeback. Samford would close out the game 30-24 to take a 1-0 lead. The Bulldogs made just three hitting errors in the opener.

Again in game two, BSC had the early lead this time 16-10. Samford went on a 9-2 run to take a 19-18 lead and force a Panther timeout. BSC came out of the timeout to take three-straight points and regain the lead at 22-19 forcing Samford to take its first timeout of the match. The teams played side-out volleyball until Samford called its second timeout trailing 27-25. Both sides played back and forth until Martin got a kill on game point to give BSC the 30-27 win and even the match.

Samford came out after the intermission to take seven of the first ten points of game three. BSC used a 13-9 run to tie the game at 16. The teams split the next 14 points before Whitehead tooled the block to put Samford back ahead 24-23 and forced a Panther timeout. Birmingham-Southern took four of the next five points to take a 27-25 lead. Samford answered with two straight to tie it at 27. Smelley put down an overpass and Whitehead took care of a back row attack to force 28 all. A Bulldog block gave Samford game point at 29-28 and Gary blocked down an overpass to give the Bulldogs game three 30-28.

Game four was a side out affair to 13-13 until BSC went on a quick 4-0 run to take a 17-13 lead before Whitehead restored order with a kill. The Bulldogs tied the game at 20-20 when BSC head coach Tonya Charland called her first timeout of the game. A Kasey Buchtien service ace and Whitehead's 25th kill of the evening gave Samford a 26-23 lead and forced Charland to call her final timeout. Whitehead's 26th kill gave her a new career high and Samford a 27-23 lead. Back-to-back points by the Panthers force Kris Dorn to call a timeout at 27-25. Whitehead's 28th kill gave Samford match point and Berryman ended the match with her 14th kill to give the Bulldogs the 30-26 win and the match 3-1.

Samford will return to Ohio Valley Conference play on Friday as it hosts Morehead State at 7 p.m. in Seibert Hall.