Oct. 13, 2009
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford University volleyball team closes out its three-match road swing Wednesday, Oct. 14, as the Bulldogs take a brief break from Southern Conference play and head south to take on in-state rival Troy University. Match play begins at 7 p.m., at Trojan Arena.
"This non-conference match will give us a chance to try some scheme things we need to add for the second half of conference play and maybe get some play time for some other players," Samford head coach Derek Schroeder said.
Troy leads the series with the Bulldogs, 34-13, but Samford has won two out of the last three meetings between the two teams. The Bulldogs defeated the Trojans in 2007 and 2008 in the Samford Invitational. The last time the Trojans won a match against Samford was in 2005 at the Trojan Spiketacular.
Samford and Troy were formerly conference foes in the Atlantic Sun Conference before Samford left the league to join the Ohio Valley Conference. Troy was also Samford's first-ever opponent on Sept. 22, 1987, in the program's inaugural season. The Trojans had the home court advantage and won the meeting, 3-0.
Samford (11-8, 5-1 SoCon) comes off its first road weekend in conference play. The Bulldogs split the weekend in North Carolina, sweeping Western Carolina and falling to Appalachian State in a five-set battle.
The Bulldogs continue to be led by senior middle blocker Sheriden Stangohr and freshman outside hitter Allie Bettinger. Stangohr led her team last weekend grabbing a team-high 13 kills in each of Samford's matches while hitting .440 against Western Carolina. She averages 2.83 kills on the season and is ranked 30th in the nation in blocks per set with 1.34. Bettinger leads the Bulldogs with 3.26 kills per set while also averaging 1.94 digs per set.
Junior setter Hillary Fountain runs the offense, posting 9.00 assists per set while also tallying 2.30 digs per set and 0.43 blocks per set. Freshman libero Alexis Bauer anchors the defense with 3.75 digs per set.
Troy enters Wednesday's match with a 9-10 overall record, having won five of six at home. The Trojans come off a Sun Belt Conference weekend in which they went 3-0, sweeping the University of Louisiana-Monroe and the University of Louisiana-Lafayette before defeating New Orleans, 3-1.
"Troy is playing very well and has beaten some good SoCon teams," Schroeder said. "They will be a great test and an opportunity to manage our young players on another tough road test."
The Trojans have played two Southern Conference schools already this season in Georgia Southern and Furman. Troy met Georgia Southern on opening weekend in the Holiday Inn Invitational hosted by the Eagles, falling 3-1. The next week, the Trojans faced the Furman Paladins at the Mercer Bear Brawl, falling 3-2.
Troy is led by Meghan Gilroy who boasts 4.20 kill per set and is ranked 29th in the nation in that category. She also ranked 23 in points per set with 4.93. Megan Henderson runs the Trojan offense, averaging 9.87 assists per set while also leading her team in hitting with a .369 attack percentage. She is also second on the team in digs per set with 2.88, just behind Lizzie Clough who boasts 2.93 digs per set. Devin Von Pingel led the Trojans in blocks with 0.87 per set.
Fans can follow the action via live stats and video streaming through links on the volleyball schedule page at www.troytrojans.com. First serve is at 7 p.m. A full recap and results will be available on www.samfordsports.com upon the completion of the match.
