Oct. 24, 2009
Box Score
SPARTANBURG, S.C. ---- The Samford University volleyball team defeated Wofford Saturday in five-set nail-biter on the road. The Bulldogs won the first, fourth and fifth sets and while Wofford grabbed the second and third. Samford improves to 14-10 overall and 8-2 in the Southern Conference while Wofford falls to 16-9 overall and 3-6 in league play.
"What we showed today was resiliency and that's what a team needs to win tough matches like that," Samford head coach Derek Schroeder said. "Thing may not have gone our way every time but we were able to look at the situation and see what we could do to make something happen, and then do it. Tomorrow will be two giants from the conference slugging it out tomorrow. We are going to have to bring a lot more tomorrow than we did today."
Sheriden Stangohr matched a career-high in kills against the Terriers with 21, hitting .311 while grabbing three block assists and one block solo. She also added two aces and three digs. Rachel Gadberry notched a team-high .625 hitting percentage, knocking down 11 kill on 16 attempts with one error. She also added two block assists, two digs and one assist. Allie Bettinger posted her seventh double-double on the year with 17 kills and 19 digs with one ace. Elizabeth Neisler also had 11 kills while grabbing four digs and four block assists.
Hillary Fountain posted her fifth double-double of the season, dishing out 47 assists and 18 digs while also posting seven kills and two block assists. Casey Garvey also posted her first double-double with 12 assists and 17digs with three aces. Alexis Bauer added 18 digs, five assists and one ace while Alicia Roth posted her first career kill along with six digs and two assists. Shelby Brandon grabbed three kills and one dig while Katie Luckman had two kill, one dig and one block assist.
The Bulldogs will face off with conference unbeaten Furman Sunday at 1 p.m. Video streaming is accessible through links at www.samfordsports.com. A full recap and results will available upon completion of the match.
Samford 3, Wofford 2
Samford jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead due to four errors by Wofford and a kill by Bettinger, but the Terriers answered back with four straight points to cut the lead to one. However, Samford rallied back to push the gap back out to six on kill by Stangohr and Bettinger and a couple of Terrier errors. Wofford fought to get within four but Samford maintained its six-point lead one a block by Neisler and Gadberry, a couple of kills by Stangohr and a kill by Bettinger to force Wofford to burn its last timeout. Samford then went on a 9-5 run to win the first set, 25-18.
After a long rally, Samford finally won the first point of the second set on a kill by Luckman. A block by Stangohr put the Bulldogs up by two but Wofford answered back with a kill to cut Samford's lead in half. A Terrier service error put Samford back up by two but Wofford knocked down three straight points to take a one-point lead. It was a back-and-forth game from then on, with Wofford going up by one and Samford coming back to tie the score at each point. The Terriers finally took over by two at 14-12, forcing Samford to take its first timeout of the set.
With a 4-1 run out of the break, Wofford went ahead by four and held that lead before Samford would come back to cut the lead to three and call its last timeout with the Terriers leading, 22-19. After a Samford error, the Bulldogs cut the lead to one on a Wofford service error and a service ace by Garvey. Wofford called a timeout but Samford answered back and tied the score at 24 on kills by Stangohr and Fountain. The score was tied a 25 and 26 but Wofford was able to put away the second set, 28-26, on a kill and an ace.
Both teams traded kills to start the third set before Wofford went on a 6-4 run to take a three-point lead. The Terriers maintained that lead until Samford put together a 5-1 run to tie the score at 13. Wofford called a timeout and came back out with a 7-3 run to go ahead by four before Samford called a timeout. The Bulldogs then answered with three straight points on a kill by Neisler, a Wofford error and an ace by Garvey to get within one before the Terriers called a timeout.
Garvey served up another ace out of the time out to tie the score at 20 before the Terriers came up with a block to go back ahead by one. However, Samford went on a 3-1 run to take a one-point lead on kill by Neisler, Stangohr and Gadberry. Wofford answered back with a 3-1 run of their own, though, to go ahead by one, 25-24, and with another ace closed out the fourth game, winning 26-24.
The Bulldogs jumped out to 2-0 lead at the top of the fourth set before Wofford got on the board with a kill. Samford then tacked on four straight points to go ahead by six followed by a 7-4 run to push the lead to seven and force Wofford to call a timeout. Samford continued to fight, pushing its lead out to eight but Wofford put together a run to get within five and force Samford to call a timeout. The Bulldogs committed an error out of the break but Gadberry answered back with a kill to maintain Samford's five-point lead. With the score at 20-16, each team traded four points, but Samford had the advantage and would win set four, 25-19, to send the game in a tie-breaker fifth set.
Samford opened the final set with a block by Stangohr and Neisler followed by an ace by Bauer. Wofford got on the board with a block but Fountain tacked on two more kills for the Bulldogs to go ahead by three. Samford then went on a 4-3 run to push its lead to four before the switching of sides. After the switch, Wofford went on a 3-0 run to get within three but the Bulldogs responded with a kill by Brandon and a block by Neisler and Gadberry to go ahead by five and force a Wofford timeout.
Wofford cut the lead to three out of the timeout but a kill by Stangohr to widen the gap to four had Wofford wanting a timeout. The Terriers scored three straight to force Samford to take a timeout. After the Bulldogs' timeout, each team traded points, but the Terriers were within one. After Samford burned its last timeout with the score at 14-13 in the Bulldogs' favor, a block by Stangohr and Fountain sealed the deal and Samford won the fifth and final set, 15-13.
