Sept. 10, 2005

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford University volleyball team dropped a pair of matches on Saturday. The Bulldogs were defeated by the Western Carolina Catamounts and the Birmingham Southern Panthers at the Tidmore Flags Samford Invitational.

Samford (2-6) dropped their first match of the day 3-1 to Western Carolina (1-8). Samford lost the first game 34-36 and recorded a hitting percentage of .105, compared to the Catamounts .208. Sophomore Angela Dempski led the Bulldogs in attack percentage, with .545 and totaling 14 kills.

Dempski turned in three service aces and six kills in the first game, hitting .625. Ellie Talbot led the Catamounts with 15 kills and an attack percentage of .387.

The Bulldogs came back to win the second game 30-14. Samford hit a match-high .462 over Western Carolina's .129. Freshman Ashley Klare had five digs and three kills.

The Catamounts won both games three and four by the score of 30-21, improving their record to 1-7, while Samford dropped to 2-5.

The Bulldogs lost the second match of the day to cross-town rival, Birmingham Southern (4-4), in three-straight games, 18-30, 19-30, 20-30. The Panthers combined for 43 kills compared to Samford's 27.

Following the match, Birmingham Southern was named the Tidmore Flags Samford Invitational Tournament Champions and Jana Smelley earned Most Valuable Player honors.

The Bulldogs head to Asheville, N.C., next weekend for the UNC Ashville Tournament. Samford will take on host UNC Asheville Friday night and will then face Western Carolina in a rematch on Saturday morning before meeting Elon Saturday afternoon.

2005 Tidmore Flags Samford Invitational
All-Tournament Team

Western Carolina: #4 Ellie Talbot
Fairfield: #7 Casey Machon and #2 Natalie Barba
Birmingham Southern: #15 Lillian Henderson, #8 Alex Plummer and #3 Jana Smelley - MVP