Oct. 17, 2010
Box Score
CHARLESTON, S.C. ---- The Samford volleyball team closed out its road trip in Charleston, S.C., Sunday with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-21) win over The Citadel. The win marks Samford's ninth of the season and its third in league play.
"This was a solid win today against a much improved Citadel team," Samford head coach Derek Schroeder said. "I feel like we have solidified our serve and serve-receive. We need to start making more plays at the net. We had a solid week of blocking and attacking for our front row and that next level we are looking for may happen!"
Elizabeth Neisler led Samford (9-13, 3-5 SoCon) with 12 kills while hitting .370. She also tallied two digs and three block assists. Katie Murphy and Lauren Hutchinson each posted nine kills and were the top two hitters for the Samford Bulldogs against The Citadel. Murphy posted a team-high and career-high .692 hitting percentage, connecting on nine of 13 attempts with no errors. She also added a dig and three block assists. Hutchinson hit .389 while also adding two digs, two block assists and a career-high four aces.
Taylor Palmer posted six kills and a dig while Samantha Bland added four kills, four digs, a block assist and a set assist. Casey Garvey dished out a career-high 36 assists while also adding two digs and a block assist. Alexis Bauer led the back row with 15 digs and also added an assist. Lyndsey Holt had six digs and two aces while Allie Bettinger had a kill. Hillary Fountain added an assist and four digs.
The Citadel (5-18, 0-8 SoCon) was led by Jessica Maas who posted nine kills, an assist and a dig. Tatum Jestila led the back row with nine digs while also adding eight kills and an ace. Alexa Dahlstrom led in assists with 12 while also tallying two kills and two digs. Meredith Mutispaugh dished out 10 assists and added six digs. Amanda Beal had four block assists while Kaona Mercer had three.
The Bulldogs return home for a five-match homestand that begins with Furman and Wofford next Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 23-24. Samford will then host Chattanooga for the Southern Railroad Rivalry on Wednesday, Oct. 27, before wrapping up the homestand with UNC Greensboro and Elon, Oct. 30-31.
Samford 3, The Citadel 0
A service error by Garvey gave The Citadel its first point of the match but Samford answered back with a kill of its own by Neisler. The Citadel scored another kill but Samford tacked on five straight points to take a 6-2 lead and force The Citadel to call its first timeout of the match. Samford came out of the break on fire and posted a 9-2 run, sparked by a block by Bland and Murphy, to take a 10-point lead. However, the Citadel slowly began to chip away at the gap until it had been cut down to four points.
Samford called a timeout and came back with a kill by Hutchinson. The Citadel fought to get back in it but could only get within as few as four points. Samford would go on to win set one, 25-19, on a kill by Neisler.
The Citadel scored the first two points of the second set on a kill and an ace but Hutchinson answered with a kill to get Samford on the board. The Citadel came back with five straight points to take a 6-1 lead and Samford called a timeout. Samford came back with a 6-2 run to get within one point, but the Citadel kept fighting to keep the lead. Samford fought back and eventually tied the score at 12 on a block by Hutchinson and Neisler and took over the lead with a 4-1 run.
The Citadel called a timeout but Samford scored three straight points out of the break to force The Citadel to call another timeout. Samford continued to push forward and extended its lead to six. Samford called a timeout with a 23-17 lead and came out of the break with a kill by Neisler to get set-point, but The Citadel held it there with a kill of its own. However, Samford sealed the 25-18 win on another kill by Neisler.
Hutchinson and Neisler opened the third set with a block to get Samford on the board first and a Citadel error added another point to Samford's tally. The Citadel finally got on the board by a service error by Garvey and put together a 3-1 run to tie the score at four. Samford answered back with a kill by Bland and took over, eventually taking a five-point lead on a Citadel error. That error caused The Citadel to call a timeout, but a ball-handling error by The Citadel out of the break gave Samford a 17-11 lead. However, The Citadel tacked on four straight points to cut the lead to two and force Samford to call a timeout.
Samford came out of the break with a kill by Murphy and after a Citadel kill, added two more points with a kill by Bettinger and a block by Neisler and Murphy to go ahead by four. The Citadel called another timeout but Samford held them at bay and would go on to win set three, 25-21.
