Sept. 19, 2007
Box Score
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. --- In three close games, Jacksonville State handed Samford its first conference loss of the season as the Bulldogs fell, 3-0 (30-27, 30-23, 33-31). Samford now moves to 7-5 (2-1 OVC) while the Gamecocks improve to 6-4 (3-0 OVC).
Against the Gamecocks, sophomore middle blocker Sheridan Stangohr led in kills with 10, adding one assist, one dig, two block solos and four block assists to her stats. Freshman setter Hillary Fountain led the team in hitting with a .333 percentage and assists with 30 while grabbing two kills, three digs, and two block assists.
Senior middle blocker Angela Dempski posted eight kills, one dig, one block solo, and four block assists while hitting .304. Junior outside hitter Sara Sears followed right behind with seven kills, two aces, five digs and three block assists. Freshman outside hitter Samantha Bland and sophomore Alyssa Trimpe contributed four kills each. Bland also had three digs and one block assist while Trimpe had one block assist as well. Junior Libero Courtney Gay posted 13 digs while sophomore defensive specialist Sarah Gardner added seven digs,
"Once again our middle blockers did a nice job tonight," Samford head coach Michelle Durban said. "They both hit over .300 and did a great job blocking, getting 11 blocks between the two of them. I think tonight definitely showed that we aren't quite there mentally, but physically we are getting closer to Jacksonville State. We've got to continue to improve, and as coaches we've got to get our girls to believe that they can play with anybody."
The Bulldogs are back in action this Friday, Sept. 21, as they play host to the Governors of Austin Peay. Match play begins at 7 p.m. in Seibert Gym.
Jacksonville State 3, Samford 1
The Gamecocks jumped out to an early lead in game one, scoring three straight points before Samford got its first point. With JSU up 4-1, the Bulldogs charged back to tie it on a block and kill by Stangohr. JSU pushed the lead back out to five but Samford came roaring back to bring it within one. Again the Gamecocks went up by five, but Samford came back to cut the lead to one and then eventually tied the game at 18 on another kill by Stangohr.
From that point on, it was a close game with the Bulldogs only trailing by, at the most, two points. Samford finally took the lead on a block by Stangohr and Sosnowski, but after a time out, the Gamecocks would tie it up and go on to win it, 30-27.
Samford took the lead early in game three, grabbing the first point on a block by Dempski and Fountain. The Bulldogs continued to hold the lead but JSU would keep the margin between one and two for most of the game. The tide turned when the Gamecocks tied the game at 14 then went on a 8-1 run to take the lead. The Bulldogs would cut the lead to four a couple of times but JSU would press on and win game two, 30-23.
Again Samford took the early lead in game three, but it was short-lived as the Gamecocks quickly tied the game and took over 6-5. The Bulldogs quickly jumped back on top with a couple of JSU errors and some help with a kill by Dempski and back to back blocks but Dempski and Sears.
The Gamecocks came back to tie the game at 15 and take over but the next couple of points came from a JSU error and a Dempski kill and the Bulldogs would tie it up and take over. Samford led by as much as two but the Gamecocks were right on their heels and it would come down to four game-points, two for JSU, two for Samford. However, the Gamecocks would go on to win 33-31.
