Oct. 17, 2009
Box Score
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford University volleyball team won their 22nd consecutive win at home Saturday as it defeated the Citadel Bulldogs, 3-1 (25-10, 23-25, 25015, 25-17). The win was Samford's sixth in Southern Conference play, bringing its league record to 6-1 while improving its overall record to 12-9. The Citadel falls to 4-18 overall and remains winless in conference play.
"Our middles were exceptional today, mainly because of our defense and Hillary (Fountain)," Samford head coach Derek Schroeder said. "It was good to get back home and defend home court against a good team."
Samford (12-9, 6-1 SoCon) was led by senior Sheriden Stangohr and sophomore Rachel Gadberry against the Citadel Bulldogs. Stangohr notched a season-high .750 hitting percentage with a career-high 21 kills on 28 attempts and no errors. She also tallied two assists, three aces and seven digs along with two block solos and two block assists. Gadberry notched a season-high .609 hitting percentage with a career-high 15 kills on 23 attempts and only one error.
Hillary Fountain dished out a season-high 51 assists while also hitting .500 with four kills on eight attempts and no errors. She added two aces, one block assist and seven digs. Allie Bettinger posted her sixth double-double against the Citadel, tallying 10 kills and a team-high 10 digs while also adding one assist.
Shelby Brandon had eight kills and two digs while Elizabeth Neisler added four kills, three digs and one block assist. Samantha Bland posted nine digs and one ace while Alexis Bauer added five digs and one assist and Casey Garvey had three digs and two aces.
The Citadel (4-18, 0-6 SoCon) was led by Jessica Maas and Tatum Jestila who tallied 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Jestila posted a double-double adding a team-high 13 digs to her 10 kills while also grabbing one assist and one block assist. Alyssa Holum dished out 28 assists while also posting a team-high .571 hitting percentage with four kills on seven attempts and no errors.
Defending North Division Champion Samford will host defending South Division Champion College of Charleston on Sunday. The match will serve as the Bulldogs' Dig Pink match in conjunction with the Side-Out Foundation. The Bulldogs will wear pink jerseys and will auction those off during the match. Bidding starts at $30. Fans can also still donate to the Side-Out Foundation at Samford's page on the Dig Pink website. A special presentation will take place during the break between the second and third match to honor those who have fought and are fighting breast cancer.
First serve is at 2 p.m. in the Pete Hanna Center. Fans can follow the action via free live streaming on www.samfordsports.com and a full recap and results will be posted upon the completion of the match.
Samford 3, Citadel 1
Samford completely dominated the first set after overcoming a brief 2-1 deficit. With the Citadel leading 2-1, Samford went on a 9-2 run to take an 11-3 advantage with the help of three kills and block by Stangohr, a kill by Bettinger and several error by the Citadel Bulldogs. Samford would only allow the Citadel to score six more points as it went on a 14-6 run to win set one, 25-10.
Set two began with Samford grabbing a quick two-point lead on kills by Neisler and Stangohr. However, the Citadel answered back to tie the score at three and a back-and-forth game broke out followed by four tied scores. With the score tied at eight a piece, the Citadel put together a 9-1 run to take an eight-point led. Samford fought back to cut it to five before the Citadel called a timeout. Out of the break, Samford rattled off four straight points to cut the lead to one, 20-21, on a kill by Gadberry, two aces by Fountain and a Citadel error. However, after another timeout by the Citadel Bulldogs, they put together a 4-3 run to win the second set, 25-23.
The Citadel broke out in the third set with a 3-1 lead, due to two Samford errors and an ace by Maas. However, Samford responded with a kill by Stangohr, and with the help of two Citadel errors, the Samford Bulldogs tied the score at three. Samford then went on a 9-3 run to take a five-point lead. After two timeouts by the Citadel, Samford had pushed its lead out to seven and with the score at 17-10, the Bulldogs went on a 8-5 run to win set three on kills by Fountain, Gadberry, Bettinger and Stangohr.
Alyssa Holum put the Citadel Bulldogs on the board first in set four with an ace, but Samford responded with an 11-5 run to take a five-point lead and force the Citadel to take a timeout. The Citadel responded with seven points against Samford's eight to cut the lead to four before taking another timeout, but with a 19-14 lead, Samford held the Citadel Bulldogs to only three more points out of the final break, and would go one to win the fourth and final set, 25-17.
