Oct. 18, 2008
Final Stats
CHARLESTON, S.C. ---- The Samford University volleyball team fell Saturday afternoon in three sets by the College of Charleston. The Cougars handed the Bulldogs their first loss in the Southern Conference and snapped the Samford's 12-match win streak, the longest win-streak in the program's history.
Samford came into this match facing a College of Charleston team who has won the Southern Conference Tournament Championship three years in a row. Until last Sunday, Samford and College Charleston were the only undefeated teams in the league; that is, until UNC-Greensboro defeated the Cougars in five sets. Charleston had its eye on Samford and wanted to take the Bulldogs down.
"We came up against a well-coached, intelligent team that plays very consistent and did not respond well to their high level of play," Samford head coach Derek Schroeder said. "Our challenge now is the same as all SoCon team have had for years - find a way to knock of College of Charleston."
Ashley Adams led the Bulldogs with 14 kills while grabbed two digs, one ace and one block assist. Hillary Fountain dished out 29 assists with three aces and one dig while Courtney Gay led the Bulldogs in digs with 12 and added one assist. Sheriden Stangohr led in hitting with at .389 hitting percentage and knocking down eight kills, committing only one error. She also added one dig and two block assists.
Kirstein Sosnowski and Sara Sears each had five kills while Sosnowksi had three block solos and three block assists. She also added one dig while Sears posted four digs and one block solo. Rachel Gadberry had two kills, two block assists and one assist while Sarah Gardner had five digs and one kill. Samantha Bland added eight digs.
The Bulldogs will back in action Sunday afternoon in a 1p.m. CT match-up at the Citadel. Follow all the action on live stats at www.CitadelSports.com and via video streaming at www.soconsports.com. A full recap and results will be available on www.samfordsports.com upon the completion of the match.
College of Charleston 3, Samford 0
A quick error gave Samford the first point of the match and a service ace by Gardner put the Bulldogs up by two early. However, College of Charleston answered back as a Samford service error gave the Cougars their first point and a kill tied the score at two. The Bulldogs fought through two more ties and finally took a three-point on back-to-back kills by Adams and a block solo by Sosnowski. Charleston cut the lead to two but Samford quickly stretched the lead to four on a kill by Gadberry and a block by Sosnowski and Stangohr. However, Charleston went on a 6-2 run to tie the score at 12 before Samford called a timeout.
Charleston came straight out of the break wit a kill, but Adams returned the favor and tied the score again with a kill. The Cougars then took a two-point lead but Samford fought back and tied things up with a kill by Adams and a service ace from Fountain. A Charleston error and another ace by Fountain gave Samford the lead back by two. However, the Cougars came back and tied the score again and took over, pushing their lead out to five and taking set one, 25-20.
Charleston jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the second set but Samford quickly tied the score on a kill by Fountain, a Cougar ball handling error and an ace by Fountain. Fighting through three more ties, the Cougars finally took the lead back for good. They surged out to a five-point lead before Samford fought to get back within two on three consecutive kills by Stangohr, but the Cougars would go on to win set two, 25-21.
A Samford service error gave Charleston its first point but a block by Sosnowski and Stangohr evened things up at one. Another service error gave the Cougars a 2-1 lead before Sears tied the score again with a kill. After another tied score, Samford took two-point lead on a kill by Fountain and Charleston error. The Bulldogs pressed that lead out to five before the Cougars took a timeout.
Charleston came out of the break and went on another 6-2 run to take an 11-10 lead. Samford called another timeout and fought to tie the score at 13 on a block by Sosnowski and Stanoghr. The score was tied two more times before Samford took over by two on kills by Adams and Gadberry, but Charleston went on a 4-2 run to take a two-point lead before Samford called a timeout. After the break, the Bulldogs got within one and the Cougars called a timeout. An ace by Adams gave tied the score at 21 out of the break but Charleston would answer back with a kill and three Samford errors gave the Cougars the win, 25-21.
