Nov. 14, 2009
Box Score
STATESBORO, Ga. ---- The Samford University volleyball team fell to Georgia Southern, 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-19) in the teams' season finale on Saturday night. The Bulldogs fall to 17-13 overall and 11-5 in Southern Conference play while Georgia Southern improves to 21-10 overall, 11-5 in the league.
Despite the loss to the Eagles, Samford still wins the North Division title for the second year in a row. The Bulldogs went into the weekend sharing the title with Elon. The only thing that would leave Samford standing alone with the championship would have been a Phoenix loss. That happened when Appalachian State defeated Elon earlier Saturday.
Samford was led by Allie Bettinger who knocked down eight kills and hit .318 on 22 attempts with one error. She also added seven digs. Sheriden Stangohr had six kills along with three block assists and two digs. Casey Garvey led the Bulldogs in assists with 11 while Hillary Fountain added nine. Garvey and Fountain also added two kills. Garvey had two aces and three digs while Fountain had two digs and two block assists. Alexis Bauer led the back row with eight digs.
Rachel Gadberry added two kills and one block assist while Elizabeth Neisler had two kills, two digs and two block assists. Sarah Gardner had two digs while Katie Luckman had two kills. The Bulldogs out-blocked the Eagles, 4-0.
Bethany Sanford led the Eagles in kills with nine followed closely behind by Kirby Monson and Parker Small with seven each. Monson also led in hitting with .357 while adding two assists and one dig. Cristin Haines led the back row with 15 digs while Lauren Claybaugh had seven. Kat Van Dyke led in assists with 27.
Samford will begin Southern Conference Tournament play next Saturday, Nov. 21, against the No. 2 seed in the South Division at 2:30 p.m. Currently, the standings show College of Charleston as the No. 2 seed in the South. Furman, the top seed in the South, will take on the No. 2 seed in the North at 12 p.m. earlier that day. The championship match will be played between the winners of those matches at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
The tournament will be held at Furman's Alley Gym. Adult single session passes are $5 while student single session passes are $3. For more information, visit www.soconsports.com.
Georgia Southern 3, Samford 0
Georgia Southern jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead due to two Samford errors, an ace by Van Dyke and a kill by Monson. The Bulldogs then got on the board with a block by Stangohr and Fountain and a kill by Bettinger. However, the Eagles soon pulled ahead by eight, going on a 7-0 run at one point. The Bulldogs were able to get back within seven, but Georgia Southern forged ahead and won set one, 25-16.
Samford grabbed the first point of the second set and its first lead of the match on a kill by Luckman before Georgia Southern answered back with a kill of its own by Small. The Bulldogs regained the lead though on a kill by Stangohr and an Eagle error. However, a service error by Gardner followed by a service ace by Sanford tied the score at three a piece. Samford regained the lead again but the Eagles tied the score at seven, eight, nine and ten before going on a 3-0 run to take the lead and forcing Samford to call its first timeout of the entire match.
Georgia Southern came out of the break with a 6-1 run to go ahead by eight causing Samford to call its second timeout. But nothing doing, as the Eagles scored two more points out of the break to go ahead by 10. Samford fought back to get within seven, but Georgia Southern would go on to win, 25-17.
Garvey started the third set with two service aces to put the Bulldogs ahead by two early. Samford then took a three-point lead before Georgia Southern answered back with 9-3 run to take its own three-point lead. After Samford called a timeout, the Bulldogs came back with a 4-1 run to get within one, but the Eagles forged ahead, going on to win the third set by six, 25-19.
