Nov. 8, 2009
Box Score
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford University volleyball team clinched a share of the Southern Conference North Division title Sunday in a 3-1 (25-11, 17-25, 25-19, 25-22) win over Western Carolina on Senior Day. The Bulldogs go into the final weekend of regular-season play with a 17-12 overall record, 11-4 in league play. The Catamounts fall to 3-25 overall, 0-14 in the SoCon.
"I am very happy that a rebuilding year has lead us to at least a share of a division championship," Samford head coach Derek Schroeder said. "We have a long road trip ahead of us next weekend. Let's see what we can do to win the North Division outright."
The seniors shined Sunday in their final match at the Pete Hanna Center. After a pre-match ceremony to honor their hard work from the past four years, the trio led their team to clinch a share of the North Division title.
Sheriden Stangohr just missed matching a career-best in kills with 18, but led the Bulldogs in hitting with a .469 average while also grabbing four block assists, one solo block, two aces and one dig. Sarah Gardner notched a career-high seven aces, contributing almost half of Samford's 15 aces served on the day, falling just five short of a team record. She also added seven kills and one assist while Katie Luckman posted a career-high .385 hitting percentage along with six kills on 13 attempts with only one error, two digs, and one block assist. She also sealed the deal for the Bulldogs, knocking down the final kill in set three to win the match for Samford.
Freshmen Allie Bettinger and Elizabeth Neisler were the other two Bulldogs to post double digits in kills against the Catamounts. Bettinger knocked down 13, hitting .214 while adding six digs, two block assists, two aces and one assist. Neisler posted 11 kills while hitting a career-high .350. She also added one dig and one block assist. Sophomore Rachel Gadberry posted six kills along with three block assists and one dig.
Freshman Casey Garvey and junior Hillary Fountain shared time at the setter position, dishing out 25 and 24 assists, respectively. Garvey also added one kill, two aces and four digs while Fountain grabbed three kills, one ace, five digs and three block assists. Freshman Alexis Bauer led the back row with 13 digs which brings her season total to 382, just 30 shy of matching Gardner's 2006 record of 412. Samantha Bland grabbed two digs while Alicia Roth added one dig.
Western Carolina was led by Amanda Kerr who posted nine kills and hit .318. Katie Hennessey dished out a team-high 23 assists for the Catamounts while Liz Rondone led the back row with eight digs. Abbey Scroggins led in blocks with six block assists while Carrie Minogue added five block assists and Rebecca Stoltz had four block assists.
The Bulldogs will take to the road next weekend to wrap up regular-season play in Statesboro, Ga. Samford will take on Georgia Southern Saturday, Nov. 14, at 6 p.m., to see if it can capture the North Division for its own for the second year in a row.
Samford 3, Western Carolina 1
Stangohr opened up the match with a kill to get Samford on the board first but Western Carolina's Hennessey knocked down a kill to even the score. Hennessey came back with another kill to put the Catamounts up by one but a WCU service error evened the score again. After a kill by Kara Lynzee Brooks, the Bulldogs posted four straight points to grab a 6-3 lead on a block by Fountain and Stangohr, back-to-back aces by Gardner and a kill by Fountain. The Catamounts called for a timeout but Samford continued to pile on the points, going ahead by 10 on a 10-3 run. After another Western Carolina timeout, Samford forged ahead with a 9-5 run to win the first set, 25-11.
Neisler opened up the second set with a kill to get the Bulldogs on the board first but Stoltz answered back with a kill to tie the score at one. The Catamounts then put together a 13-6 run to take a seven-point lead and force Samford to take its first timeout of the match. WCU came out of the break and tacked on three more points to go ahead by 10 before Samford found a way to cut it to eight on kills by Stangohr and Bettinger. However, the Catamounts pushed the lead back out to 11, forcing Samford to take another timeout. Samford came back with a 5-1 run to get within seven again. The Catamounts called another timeout and the Bulldogs came back with an ace by Bauer to get within three. Yet with a 23-17 lead, WCU gained match point on a serve error by Bauer, and a kill by Stoltz clinched the 25-17 for the Catamounts in the second set.
An ace by Garvey and a solo block by Stangohr put the Bulldogs up by two early in the third set. A WCU block and a Samford error tied the score at two, but the Bulldogs went on an 8-5 run to take a10-7 lead before the Catamounts called a timeout. Fountain served up an ace out of the break and although WCU got within two points briefly, Samford forced another timeout after taking a 20-14 lead on kills by Stangohr and Gadberry. WCU got within five on a Samford error after the break but Samford held the lead as each team went back and forth scoring two points each twice over. However, with match point at 24-19, Stangohr knocked down a kill to win set three, 25-19.
The fourth set was a back-and-forth affair until Samford tied the score at seven on a kill by Fountain. A service error by Bettinger gave the Catamounts the lead and WCU scored two more points to go ahead by three. However, Samford answered back and grabbed three straight points on a kill by Neisler, a block by Stangohr and Neisler and a kill by Luckman to tie the score at 10. That sparked a 4-1 run to take a three-point lead before WCU called a timeout. A 5-1 run out of the break moved Samford ahead by seven and after another Catamount timeout, the Bulldogs went ahead by 10 on kills by Bettinger and Fountain, a block by Gadberry and Bettinger and a couple of WCU errors. However, two straight Samford errors followed by three blocks by the Catamounts got WCU back within five. Though after a Samford timeout, the Bulldogs managed to hold off the Catamounts and Luckman fired off the final kill, winning the set 25-22.
