Sept. 26, 2009
Box Score
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford University volleyball team clinched its first Southern Conference win Saturday over UNC Greensboro by a score of 3-1 (25-21, 24-26, 25-21, 25-20). The win was Samford's 18th consecutive win in the Pete Hanna Center. The Bulldogs now move to 7-7 overall and 1-0 in league play while the Spartans fall to 6-8, 0-1 SoCon.
"This was a good win for us in our conference opener," Samford head coach Derek Schroeder said. "At times, we showed our youth but we made plays when it came down to it. We just need to keep getting better and better every week. Sheriden Stangohr was a stud for us today."
Stangohr led the Bulldogs by notching season high in kills with 17 and digs with five. She also tallied a.364 hitting percentage while posting three block assists. Hillary Fountain and Allie Bettinger notched their third double-double of the year as Fountain grabbed 50 assists and 10 digs and Bettinger had 15 kills and 11 digs. Fountain also had four kills, two block assists and two block solos while Bettinger one ace and one block assist.
Elizabeth Neisler and Shelby Brandon each had nine kills while Neisler added two digs and one block assist. Brandon led the Bulldogs in hitting with a .368 percentage while grabbing one dig and one block assist. Rachel Gadberry added seven kill while hitting .250 along with two digs and two block assists.
Alexis Bauer led the back row with 19 digs while adding four assists and ace. Casey Garvey added eight digs, two assists and two aces while Samantha Bland had five digs and one ace.
UNC Greensboro was led by Caley Redden who posted a double-double with 15 kills and 10 digs while hitting .257. Air Lysacek dished out 40 assists while Catherine Hanners and Kayleigh Knerr had 17 and 13 digs, respectively. Emily Lindborg led the Spartans in blocks with two block solos and four block assists.
Samford will be back in action tomorrow for the second match in a three-match home stand. The Bulldogs will host Elon at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
Samford 3, UNC Greensboro 1
The Bulldogs came out in the first set and scored three straight points to jump out to an early lead. After a UNCG error, Stangohr and Neisler knocked down back-to-back kills to force the Spartan to burn their first timeout. UNCG then responded with two points right out of the break, but Samford refused to relinquish its lead, forging ahead to push the lead to seven. The Spartans eventually climbed back within three, but Samford would go on to win set one, on a kill by Brandon and a Spartan error.
A UNC Greensboro error gave Samford its first point of the second set and a block by Fountain and Stangohr put the Bulldogs up 2-0. Both teams would fight to keep the score close as they fought through 12 ties throughout the game. The Spartans took their first lead of the match when they tied the score at four and followed with a kill by Billi Baker to make the score 5-4. It would be a back-and-forth game from then on out until Samford took the largest lead of the set at 22-19. After a UNCG timeout, the Spartans got within two again and sparked a 6-0 run to win set two, 26-24.
In set three, the Spartans to the early three point lead with each of the first three points going to UNC Greensboro. Samford quickly answered back, however, going on an 8-5 run to tied the score before taking the lead on an ace by Bettinger. The Bulldogs then pushed the lead out to four on a kill by Neisler followed by one by Bettinger and then a block by Bettinger and Gadberry. Two Spartans error pushed the Bulldog lead out to six before UNCG cut it back to four, but Samford would go on to win the third set, 25-21.
Neisler got the Bulldogs on the board first in the four and final set with a kill followed by an ace by Garvey. Samford then went on a 4-2 run to push its lead out to five before UNCG decided to take a timeout. The Spartans fought back to tie the score at 14 but after a timeout by Samford, the Bulldogs retained the lead and would go on to win, 25-20.
