Oct. 18, 2007
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford volleyball team kicks off its three-match home stand Friday as they face the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks in an evening Ohio Valley Conference contest in Seibert Gym. The Bulldogs will also home Murray State Saturday evening as a part of the Samford Homecoming festivities.
Samford comes off an exciting 3-1 road win over Austin Peay on Tuesday, a win that brought the Bulldogs back to .500 on the season and rearranged the Samford record book in a few categories as well. The Bulldogs played their longest game in Samford history as they took the Lady Govs into extra point in the second game of the match before finally suffering their only loss of the night, 37-39.
On the side of individual records, senior middle blocker Angela Dempski posted a career-high 23 kills and currently ranks fourth in career block assists (266), freshman outside hitter Samantha Bland had a career-high 19 digs and grabbed and grabbed her fifth double-double of the season while junior outside hitter Sara Sears posted her 11th and made her way onto the career kills list, locking in eighth place with 963 career kills.
Freshman setter Hillary Fountain had a career-high 71 assists while making her way to ninth place on the career assists list, right in front of junior Libero Courtney Gay and four spots behind junior setter Jackie Jaszcz. Gay earned the top spot on the single-season digs list with 435 while ranking seventh in career digs. Sophomore middle blocker Sheriden Stangohr is now tied for fifth on the single-season block assists list with 91 on the season.
`We were able to get off on the right foot in the second half of conference play against Austin Peay on Tuesday," Samford head coach Michelle Durban said. "We need to continue with that intensity and desire as we head into the weekend."
The weekend is full of challenges for the Bulldogs as they are currently in seventh place in the conference, fighting for one of six spots in the OVC Tournament. The first challenge comes in UT Martin on Friday night. The Skyhawks, who are ranked 27th in the nation in block (3.00 bpg), currently sit right behind Samford in the conference standing, but are looking for a win as they have lost two of their last three. Their most recent loss comes to non-conference opponent Belmont. The Bruins swept the Skyhawks Tuesday night at Shyhawk Fieldhouse. The last meeting between Samford and UT Martin came in mid-September when the Bulldogs pulled out a five-game win over the Skyhawks.
"UTM is a very good blocking team so we will need to be smart offensively against them," Durban said. "The last time we played, it was a long competitive match and we expect more of the same on Friday."
UT Martin is led by senior Libero Anna Gautrea, who is ranked 56th nationally in digs (5.32 bpg), and senior middle blocker Kathyrn Sprague, who is ranked nationally in hitting percentage (.369). Sprague continues to move up the league's block assists list. She now has 418 block assists to sit in fourth-place. Senior middle blocker Sarah Jett also now sits 15th on the OVC's block assist list with 310 in just over two-and half seasons.
The next challenge for the Bulldogs will be Saturday as they face of with OVC No. 2 Murray State. The Racers have won nine straight matches and are ranked second in the nation in digs (20.72 dpg). Murray State dropped a five-game match at Lipscomb before defeating Morehead State, 3-1, and Eastern Kentucky, 3-0. The Racers have now won their last nine Conference matches.
"Murray State is playing very well since the last time we saw them," Durban said. "They are second in the nation in digs per game so we will need to be patient offensively. We know that they will dig a lot of balls. We need to be willing to play the entire rally against them to be successful."
The Racers are led by junior outside hitter Alyssa Groves who finished last week averaging 3.0 kills and 3.0 points per game. Senior middle hitter Tara DeMage notched 40 kills over the three matches last week including a team-high 18 at Lipscomb. Junior Libero Heather Norris had two 30-dig matches last week and ranks 18th in the country in digs (5.77 dpg). Sophomore setter Cassie Chesney ranks 18th nationally and first in the conference in assists (13.01 apg).
First serve between the Bulldogs and Shyhawks is at 7 p.m. on Friday night in Seibert Gym. Samford will meet Murray State at 6 p.m., again in Seibert Gym, on Saturday evening immediately following Samford's Homecoming football game. Follow all the action on live stats and find a full recap and results on www.samfordsports.com upon the completion of each match.
