Oct. 24, 2010
Box Score
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford University volleyball team closed out its second Southern Conference home weekend Sunday with a 3-0 sweep of Wofford. With the Bulldogs' upset of Furman on Saturday and the sweep of Wofford today, they are back at .500 in league play and have now won three in a row.
Samford (11-13, 5-5 SoCon) showed great poise and intensity against Wofford (12-16, 2-8 SoCon) as the Terriers battled the Bulldogs hard in sets one and three. However, the Bulldogs made plays when it counted and showed that their maturity was enough to bring them out on top. Samford out-blocked Wofford, 9-5, and hit a match-high .583 in the second set.
"There were some times earlier in the season that we have been down and out," Samford head coach Derek Schroeder said. "We got down a couple of times today but we never felt like we were out. We made some great plays when we needed to and managed to squeak out a win in set one and set three, and we put our offense on display in set two, that's for sure."
The Bulldogs and Terriers fought through 11 tied scores and only two lead changes in the first set, but it came down to the wire much like the first set in Saturday's match with Furman. The Bulldogs played their second extra-point set in two days but managed to come out with the win this time.
"If you look at the scores in the SoCon this week, everyone has been playing extra points in the first set, so coming up with those plays at the end of set one was huge for us," Schroeder said. "It's just another shot of confidence in our arm even more knowing that we can make those plays at the end of sets."
Lauren Hutchinson led the Bulldogs against the Terriers, hitting .500 and tallying 12 kills on 18 attempts while also posting three block assists. Casey Garvey dished out a team-high 39 assists and nine digs while also adding two block assists, an ace and a kill. Lyndsey Holt led the back row with 11 digs while also adding three kills, two aces and a block assist.
Allie Bettinger led the left side with a team-high 14 kills and a .440 hitting percentage. Elizabeth Neisler tallied eight kills and hit .286 while also adding a dig and a block assist.
"This is probably the best our left sides have played all year," Schroeder said. "When teams focus on our middles, that makes it easier for our outsides to do something great, and the left sides really showed up today."
Katie Murphy posted eight kills and hit .250 while also adding four solo blocks, two block assists, a dig and an assist. Samantha Bland finished with 10 digs while Alexis Bauer and Hillary Fountain each had five digs and an ace. Bauer also tallied one assist.
Stacy Byrd led the Terriers with 13 kills and seven digs while also grabbing a block assist. Wendy Burnett, Arden Anderson and Rachel Woodlee posted four kills each while Bekah Dorsey led in assists with 15 followed by Tara Gough with eight. Woodlee also led in blocks with three block assists while Anderson tallied Wofford's only solo block.
The Bulldogs continue their five-match homestand Wednesday, Oct. 29, as they host SoCon rival Chattanooga. Samford currently leads the Southern Railroad Rivalry with the Mocs, 1-0, after the Bulldogs swept the Lady Mocs in Chattanooga earlier this month. Match play begins at 6 p.m. in the Pete Hanna Center.
Samford 3, Wofford 0
Neisler opened set one with a kill to get the Bulldogs quickly on the board but Woodlee answered back for the Terriers with a kill of her own to even the score. The score was tied two more times before Samford took a 10-4 lead on a 7-1 run sparked by a kill from Holt and capped off with a block by Murphy. Wofford called a timeout but Samford came out of the break with a kill by Murphy and kept the momentum going to take a seven-point lead. However, the Terriers eventually cut the lead to five and Samford called a timeout with a 17-12 lead.
Wofford came back after the break with a 6-1 run to get within two and Samford called another timeout. Wofford came back with a kill to get within one but Bettinger answered with a kill of her own to make it a 20-18 game. A kill and an ace by Wofford evened the score at 20, and the Bulldogs and Terriers would trade points again and again until Wofford called a timeout with the score tied at 23.
The Terriers came out of the break and scored a kill to reach set point but the Bulldogs held them there with a kill by Neisler. Wofford gained two more set points but Samford dashed their hopes, tying the score again and again. With a kill, Bettinger tied the score and then she took the lead for the Bulldogs with another kill. A service error by Holt tied the score at 27, but another service error by Wofford's Reagan Styles gave Samford the lead again. Finally, the Bulldogs gained the 29-27 win of the first set on an attack error by Burnett.
Neisler knocked down the first point of the second set with a kill but Wofford answered back to even the score. The score was tied twice before Samford went on a 12-1 run to take an 11-point lead as Holt served for eight straight points and Bettinger and Murphy dominated the first half of the set with kills. Wofford took a timeout with the Bulldogs leading 15-4, but could only score four more points as Samford went on to win set two, 25-8, in an offensive showcase.
Wofford scored the first point of the third set for Samford with an error but quickly came back with a kill to make it 1-1. The Terriers took the lead due to back-to-back errors by Samford, but the Bulldogs quickly got back in the game and took a three-point lead on aces by Holt and Fountain and a block by Murphy. Wofford called a timeout and got right back in it with a 4-1 run to tie the score at 10. Samford moved ahead by two but Wofford caught up again and tied the score at 13 before eventually taking an 18-17 lead and forcing Samford to call a timeout.
A kill by Garvey out of the break tied the score at 18 and the Bulldogs took a two-point lead on an ace by Bauer and a kill by Hutchinson as Wofford called its final timeout of the match. The Terriers tied the score again at 21 but Samford answered back with a kill by Neisler, a block by Holt and Hutchinson and then a kill by Hutchinson to gain match point. Wofford held the Bulldogs at 24 with a kill by Byrd but Hutchinson came back with a kill to earn the 25-22 win for Samford in set three.
