Oct. 16, 2009
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford University volleyball team is back at home this weekend as it plays host to The Citadel and defending South Division champions College of Charleston, Saturday and Sunday. Saturday's match will be Faculty Appreciation Day and Sunday's match will be Samford's Dig Pink match in support of Breast Cancer Awareness.
On Saturday between sets two and three, each Bulldog's favorite professor will be recognized at center court. On Sunday, the Bulldogs will wear pink jerseys and encourage all fans to wear the color pink in some way to join in the fight against breast cancer. A silent auction will be held for the players' pink jerseys during the match. Bidding starts at $30.
"This cause is very important to our team since breast cancer has affected someone we all know in one way or another," Samford head coach Derek Schroeder said. "This year we are honoring a very special person and we want to raise as much as we can to support this cause."
Samford (11-9, 5-1 SoCon) comes off a tough non-conference loss on the road at Troy on Wednesday. The Trojans swept the Bulldogs, 3-0, handing Samford its second straight road loss. Last weekend, the Bulldogs were in North Carolina taking on Western Carolina and Appalachian State. Samford swept Western Carolina, but fell in a hard-fought battle with Appalachian State, 3-2.
"We learned a little bit about determination from those tough road losses," Schroeder said. "I am looking for a boat load of that back in the comfort of our own place."
Samford returns to Birmingham ready to defend home court. The Bulldogs have not lost at home in 21 matches and have only one conference loss on their record so far this season - the Appalachian State road loss.
Last season was Samford's first meeting with the Citadel Bulldogs when Samford swept the Citadel in Charleston. College of Charleston holds the lead in the all-time series with Samford at 8-3. Last season, the Cougars swept the Bulldogs in Charleston, handing them their first of only two Southern Conference losses last season. The last time Samford defeated Charleston was Oct. 27, 1995, when Samford took the match in four sets at home.
"Citadel is much improved and has got great coaching, so to overlook them would be a big mistake," Schroeder said. "College of Charleston has some tough conference losses this year and some injuries but they are too seasoned and too experienced to not come in here and give us a very hard match."
Samford is led by freshman Allie Bettinger and senior Sheriden Stangohr who lead in kills and hitting respectively. Bettinger averages 3.29 kills per set while Stangohr holds a .303 hitting percentage on the season so far and is ranked 30th in the nation in blocks per set with 1.32.
Hillary Fountain and Casey Garvey split time at the setter position. Fountain leads with 8.64 assists per set (631 total) while Garvey averages 1.88 assists per set (139 total). Alexis Bauer leads the back row with 3.77 digs per set while Fountain and Samantha Bland average just over two per set and Garvey and Bettinger average just under two per set.
The Citadel (4-17, 0-5 SoCon) enters the weekend fresh off a sweep of the Savannah State Tigers after falling in its last seven matches. The Bulldogs are still searching for their first conference win as five of their last six losses have been to league foes.
The Citadel Bulldogs are led by Jessica Maas who averages 2.45 kills per set while hitting a team-high .241 attack percentage. She also leads in blocks per set with 0.51. Alyssa Holum runs the Citadel offense at the setter position, posting 7.16 assists per set while ranking second on the team in digs with 1.97 per set. Tatum Jestila leads in digs with 2.53 per set while Rachael Farrell has served up a team-high 23 aces on the season.
College of Charleston (8-10, 4-2 SoCon) comes off a weekend split in conference play. The Cougars fell to Georgia Southern in a five-set brawl last Saturday but bounced back with a 3-0 sweep of Davidson on Sunday. The loss to Georgia Southern was the second in conference play for the defending South Division champions after falling to Furman the weekend before in four sets.
The Cougars are led by Sarah Havel (2.43 per set), Emily Sawin (2.32 per set) and Ginny Phillips (2.34 per set) in kills while Elyse Chubb averages a team-high .318 hitting percentage and 1.99 kills per set. Cole Dawley dishes out 9.48 assists per set and 2.43 digs per set while Paige Johnson leads the back row with 3.75 digs per set followed by Sawin with 2.24 per set. Charleston is the 26th-ranked blocking team in the nation, led by Havel who is ranked 43rd in the nation with 1.22 per set.
Match play begins at 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Admission is free and fans can follow the action via free live streaming on www.samfordsports.com. A full recap and results will be available on www.samfordsports.com upon the completion of each match.
