Oct. 25, 2008
Final Stats
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford University volleyball team sparked a second set comeback to overtake Elon, 3-1 (17-25, 25-23, 25-16, 25-14), in Saturday nights match. After losing the first set, the Bulldogs rallied back to win three straight to grab their 20th win of the season.
Samford (20-3, 9-1 SoCon) went from hitting .000 in the first set to .593 as a team in the fourth set, holding their opponents to under .200 the whole match. The Bulldogs posted a sideout efficiency of 75 percent in the third set and 80 percent in the fourth set. Elon now moves to 15-11 overall and 4-6 in conference play.
"After our first Southern Conference loss last weekend, we talked a lot about responding to adversity," Samford head coach Derek Schroeder said. "Elon came in and gave us a beating in game one. I am so proud of our response and the level we brought in the rest of the match."
Sheriden Stanoghr led the Bulldogs in kills with 14, hitting .444, adding one ace, one dig and three block assists. Rachel Gadberry posted 13 kills and two block assists while leading her team in hitting with .500. Sara Sears had 10 kills and five digs with one block solo and one block assist.
"I challenged Sara Sears and Rachel Gadberry this week and they played fabulous tonight," Schroeder said. "We are all excited for tomorrow."
Ashley Adams knocked down nine kills and added five digs, one assist, one block solo and two block assists. Kirstein Sosnowski posted seven kills and two digs while also grabbing one block solo and three block assists. Hillary Fountain dished out 47 assists while having three kills, one ace and one block assist. Courtney Gay had 22 digs and one assists while Samantha Bland grabbed 10 digs. Sarah Gardner had eight digs with two aces one assist.
Samford will be back in action Sunday as it hosts UNC Greensboro at 2 p.m. in the Pete Hanna Center. The Spartans trail the Bulldogs in the Southern Conference standings as they sit in second place in the North division, just behind Samford.
Samford 3, Elon 1
Elon jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead a service error by Samford, two aces and a kill. Samford finally got on the board due to a Phoenix service error and then a block by Gadberry and Sosnowski cut the lead in have. Elon went ahead again by four but Samford cut it to two again with a kills by Sosnowski and Stangohr. The Phoenix soared out to an eight-point lead, mostly due to Samford errors. The Bulldogs tried to recover, getting within six on a kill by Adams and a block solo by Sosnowski but the Phoenix would go on to push the lead back out to eight and win set one, 25-17.
Samford struck the first blow in set two with a kill by Sosnowski but two consecutive Bulldog errors and a Phoenix kill lifted Elon to a two-point advantage. With a kill by Sears, Samford got within one point but Elon quickly pulled ahead by five on three kills and a block. Soon, Elon ahead by six points and Samford called a timeout. Two Elon errors sparked a 5-2 run to get the Bulldogs within two, but a couple of Samford errors and a Phoenix block put Elon back ahead by five. Another quick run cut the lead to two again and forced the Phoenix to take a timeout.
The break seemed to help Samford more than Elon as the Bulldogs went on an 8-3 run to take the set. Sosnowski sparked the run with a kill, followed by Sears with the same and an Elon error put Samford within one point. Two Phoenix kills put Elon back ahead by three but not for long as a kill by Stangohr, a Phoenix error and a service ace by Gardner tie the score at 23. Another Elon error put Samford ahead by one and Adams wrapped things up with a kill, giving Samford the 25-23 win.
A block by Elon put the Phoenix on the board first but Stangohr quickly answered back with a kills. An error by Elon's setter gave Samford the 2-1 lead but a Samford error just tied the score back up. After six more tied scores, Samford finally took the lead for good on back-to-back kills by Adams and kill by Fountain. A block by Stangohr and Sosnowski gave the Bulldogs a three-point advantage and forced Elon to take a timeout.
Out of the break, Stangohr knocked down a kill to put the Bulldogs ahead by four but the Phoenix answered back with a kill and a block to cut the lead to two. However, with the help of a few errors by Elong and a kill by Sears, the Bulldogs went ahead by five and forced another Elon timeout. After the break, Samford went on a 9-5 run to take set three, 25-16, as Sears closed out the set with a kill.
Samford grabbed a quick 2-0 lead to start the four and final set on consecutive kills by Stangohr and Sosnowski. An Elon error added a third point to Samford's score and then a Bulldog service error put the Phoenix in the game. A 4-2 run included kills by Sears and Gadberry and after another error by the Phoenix, Elon called for a timeout. Samford surged ahead by eight on kills by Sears, Adams and Sosnowski, a couple of Phoenix errors, a block by Gadberry and Adams and capped off by an ace by Fountain. After another Elon timeout, Samford went on a 7-5 run to win the fourth set. A kill by Stangohr, a block by Fountain and Stangohr, an ace by Gardner and another kill by Stangohr rounded out the 25-14 win.
