Nov. 9, 2008
Final Stats
BOONE, N.C. ---- The Samford University volleyball team clinched the North division title of the Southern Conference Sunday after defeating Appalachian State in a five-set brawl at the Holmes Center on the Boone, N.C., campus. The Bulldogs now extend their win streak to eight and move to 26-3 in overall and 15-1 in league play.
Appalachian State (6-24, 2-14 SoCon) had its sights set on keeping Samford from gaining a title on their home court, but the Bulldogs were not ready to let an opponent keep them from accomplishing their goal.
"Appalachian State played a great match and is much better than their record shows," Samford head coach Derek Schroeder said. "We knew they'd push us and we are glad we had the respond to some adversity at the point in the season."
The Bulldogs won the first two sets of the match (25-24, 25-21) before the Mountaineers grabbed wins in the second and third sets (26-24, 26-24). Samford entered the fifth set with a one-point advantage but quickly fell behind, fighting its way through a scrappy beginning to the tie-breaker set to finally take the lead and reach eight points first. From that point on, the Bulldogs committed to not give up and walked away with a division championship.
"What a great experience for these kids and especially the seniors to win the North division," Schroeder said. "We set a goal to be the first team to hang a championship banner in Pete Hanna and we did it."
Ashley Adams posted a double-double against the Mountaineers, grabbing 23 kills and 13 digs with two block assists and one ace. Kirstein Sosnowski hit .385 with 14 kills, one dig and four block assists while Sara Sears had 12 kills, five digs and one assist. Sheriden Stangohr knocked down eight kills and grabbed five digs while also adding one assist, one block solo and two block assists. Rachel Gadberry had six kills, two digs and a career-high six block assists.
Hillary Fountain dished out 55 assists while also having five kills, five digs, one ace and two block assists. Sarah Gardner and Samantha Bland posted 12 kills each while Bland added one kill and one assist and Gardner added one assist and four aces. Courtney Gay had 11 digs one assist and one ace while Katie Luckman added one dig.
Samford will wrap up regular-season play next weekend with a trip back to North Carolina to take on UNC Greensboro and Elon on Thursday and Saturday, respectively. Check www.samfordsports.com for a preview of those two matches and recaps following each match played.
Samford 3, Appalachian State 2
Samford took an early 2-0 lead in set one on kills by Gadberry and Adams, but Appalachian State answered back with a block to get on the board followed by a Samford error to tie the score. Another block and an ace gave the Mountaineers a two-point lead but an App State error and three consecutive kills by Ssonowski and a kill by Gadberry landed Samford in front by three points.
Samford maintained a good lead for a bit but the Mountaineers fought back to tie the score at nine on a kill. The Bulldogs forged back ahead by four on kills by Adams and Gadberry. ASU soon was within two points but the Bulldogs charged ahead extending their lead to five on a kill by Sosnowski, a block by Stangohr and a Mountaineer error. However, the Mountaineers fought to get back within one and after a Samford timeout, tied the score at 19.
After that point, it was a back-and-forth game between the Mountaineers and the Bulldogs. With the score tied at 19, Sosnowski knocked down a kill to keep the Bulldogs ahead by one but a Samford error tied the score again at 20. Another Samford error gave App State its first lead of the match but back-to-back kills by Adams regained the lead for the Bulldogs, 22-21. The Mountaineers answered back with a kill to tie the score again but Adams knocked down another kill to keep the lead. Another kill by App State tied the score again but an error by the Mountaineers put Samford at set point. After an ASU timeout, Gadberry and Sosnowski came up with a big block to win the first set, 25-23.
A service error by the Bulldogs put Appalachian State on the board first in set two, but two kills by Stangohr and Gadberry soon gave Samford the 2-1 lead. However, another service error by Samford tied the score and the Mountaineers came up with two blocks and an ace to take a three-point lead which forced the Bulldogs to take a timeout.
Out of the break, a kill by Gadberry and block by Adams and an ASU error tied the score again at five, but the Mountaineers were not ready to relinquish their lead as they knocked down a kill to stay ahead by one point. A kill by Sosnowski tied the score again but a Samford service error and a kill by the Mountaineers gave App State another two-point lead. A kill by Sears and an ace by Gay evened things out again, tying the score at eight and after a few errors by App State, the Bulldogs lead by two.
The score was tied once more before the Bulldogs took over for good. The Mountaineers were able to stay within as little as two points but Samford would hold onto the lead for the duration of the set. After two ASU timeouts, the Bulldogs had extended their lead to four and a big kill by Fountain topped off the second set as the Bulldogs went on to win, 25-21.
Fountain got Samford on the board first in the third set with a kill but Appalachian State answered back with its own kill to tie the score. A kill by Adams put the Bulldogs ahead again but the Mountaineers answered back once more with another kill. Fighting through seven more ties, the Bulldogs finally took a good three-point lead midway through the set on two kills by Sosnowski and a block by Gadberry and Sosnowski. After forcing a timeout, the Bulldogs maintained a three-point lead, highlighted with back-to-back kills by Sears and a couple of kills by Adams and Fountain.
Appalachian State took another timeout and came out swinging, going on a 5-2 run to get within one point. After Samford took a timeout, the Mountaineers came up with a block and a big kill to take over by one point. The Bulldogs called another timeout to regroup, but a net error gave App State the point and the Mountaineers took the third game.
Appalachian State struck the first blow in the fourth set but immediately committed an error to even things up and give Samford its first point of the game. Another Mountaineer error gave the Bulldogs a one-point lead, but a Samford service error would tie the score again at two. After an App State service error and a block by Gadberry and Sosnowski put the Bulldogs ahead.
From that point on, it was a back-and-forth game. Samford started with a two-point lead but the Mountaineers charged back to take over. The Bulldogs never let App State get further away than two points, but the Mountaineers continued to hold the lead. After fighting through a tie at every point, the Mountaineers prevailed and came out with the 26-24 win in the fourth set, forcing a tie-breaker fifth set.
Adams knocked down a big kill to score the first point for the Bulldogs in the tie-breaker set, but a service error by the Bulldogs evened the score at one. Appalachian State then served up an ace to take a one-point lead but followed that with an error to tie the score at two. The Mountaineers then took the lead until Stangohr knocked down back-to-back kills to get within one before ASU committed two errors to give Samford the lead.
After the Bulldogs had reached the eight-point switch, Appalachian State took a timeout. However, out of the break, Stangohr scored on a kill and Gardner served up an ace to put the Bulldogs ahead by three. The Bulldogs then went on a 5-3 run to the finish and clinch the Southern Conference North division title, 15-11, on a kill by Sosnowski.
