Aug. 31, 2007
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford volleyball team opens home play this weekend as they host the Barber's Bulldog Classic for the final time in Seibert Hall. The Bulldogs welcome three teams to campus in Troy University, McNeese State and Coastal Carolina.
"We are looking forward to competing at home this weekend after a solid road performance on Wednesday," Samford head coach Michelle Durban said. "We need to play with the same type of defensive intensity this weekend to be successful. All three teams that are coming are very well coached. It should be a fun and competitive weekend of volleyball."
Three of the four participating teams are coming into the Barber's Bulldog Classic after claiming their first win of the season this past week.
Samford grabbed its first win over Chattanooga on Wednesday. The Bulldogs won in four games while junior Libero Courtney Gay raked in 42 digs, setting a new career high for herself and passing the Samford individual mark for digs in a match. Freshman setter Hillary Fountain set a new career high with 60 assists.
Troy comes off a tough home loss to UAB on Tuesday night. The Trojans fell to the Blazers in three straight games despite out-blocking the Blazers, nine to five.
McNeese State participated in the Southern Methodist Invite this past weekend, going 2-1 to start the season. The Cowgirls fell to their first opponent, Eastern Illinois, in three games on Friday night and again to SMU on Saturday afternoon before claiming their first victory of the season over Western Carolina.
Finally, Coastal Carolina won its first match Tuesday night as it beat the Cougars of College of Charleston, 3-1.
The first match-up slated for the tournament will feature McNeese State against Coastal Carolina at 10:30 Saturday morning followed by Samford taking on Troy at 1 p.m. to wrap up the first session of the tournament.
The second session of the tournament begins at 4:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon when Coastal Caroline faces off with Troy. Closing out the first day of play will be a match between Samford and McNeese State at 7 p.m.
On Sunday, Troy and McNeese State will play at noon, and the final match of the tournament will see Samford take on Coastal Carolina at 2:30 p.m.
A complete recap of Samford's matches and results of every match will be available on www.samfordsports.com. Live stats will also be available on the Samford Athletic website.
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