Nov. 13, 2009
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford University volleyball team will close out Southern Conference play Saturday night as they take to the road to meet up with Georgia Southern. After clinching a share of the North Division Championship on Sunday with a win over Western Carolina, the Bulldogs hope to claim that title on their own after Saturday's match with the Eagles.
"Holding the North Division title outright would be great and we are going to play very hard for it," Samford head coach Derek Schroeder said. "We are going travel to Statesboro in one big trip on Saturday, have a bunch of fun as a team and play loose and at full go. I'm looking forward to spending the day with my team."
Samford (17-12, 11-4 SoCon) swept Appalachian State last Saturday night to cap off a great Homecoming Day. Then on Sunday on Senior Day, the Catamounts of Western Carolina took the Bulldogs to four sets, but Samford got it done and sent its seniors into their last weekend of regular season play with a share of the North Division title.
The Bulldogs are led by this week's Southern Conference Player of the Week Sheriden Stangohr. The senior middle blocker leads her team in hitting with a .313 percentage while averaging a team-high 1.37 blocks per set. She is just 11 block assists shy of breaking her own single-season record of 129 set in 2007. She is also the all-time leader in block assists and hitting percentage and is second on the team this year in aces with 31.
Freshman outside hitter Allie Bettinger is third in the conference and leads the Bulldogs in kills with 339 on the season and 3.17 per set. She also is third on the team in digs with 2.03 per set while ranking fourth on the team in service aces with 24 on the season. Junior setter Hillary Fountain leads the Bulldogs in assists as she averages 8.41 per set while ranking third on the team in aces with 29 on the year. Freshman Casey Garvey also helps out at the setter position as she averages 2.22 assists per set. She leads the Bulldogs in aces with 34 on the year. Freshman libero Alexis Bauer leads the Samford back row with 3.54 digs per set.
The Bulldogs lead the series with the Eagles, 8-2, with their last win coming last year in the second meeting of the two teams as conference foes. Samford swept Georgia Southern in Statesboro on opening weekend last year before downing them in three again in the Pete Hanna Center about a month later. The last time the Eagles defeated the Bulldogs was in 2002 at the Georgia Southern Tournament. The Eagles won, 3-1.
Georgia Southern (20-10, 10-5 SoCon) ranks third in the South Division, just behind South Division Champion Furman (22-0, 14-0 SoCon) and College of Charleston (15-11, 11-3 SoCon). The Eagles have won five of their last seven and come off a five-set win over Davidson on Tuesday.
"Georgia Southern is a lot like us," Schroeder said. "They like to bang the ball and they lead the conference in hitting percentage, kills and digs. This is a very good team that we will have to serve and pass well against and match defensively."
Sophomore outside hitter Bethany Sanford is second in the conference and leads her team in kills with 3.50 per set while junior middle hitter Sarah Gildersleeve leads all hitters in hitting with a .303 average. Freshman setter Kate Van Dyke leads the conference in assists with 1201 on the year, 10.63 per set. She ranks 49th in the country in that category. She also is third on the team in digs per set with 2.38 while senior libero Cristin Haines leads with a team-high 4.09.
Match play between the Bulldogs and the Eagles begins at 7 p.m. in Hanner Fieldhouse. Live stats and video streaming will be available for the match via links on www.samfordsports.com and www.georgiasoutherneagles.com. A full recap and results will also be available on www.samfordsports.com shortly upon the completion of the match.
