Nov. 6, 2010
Box Score
CULLOWHEE, N.C. ---- The Samford University volleyball team captured its 14th win of the season Saturday afternoon with a 3-1 victory at Western Carolina. The Bulldogs are now 14-14 overall and 8-8 in Southern Conference play. The Catamounts fell to 6-23 overall and 1-12 in league play.
Samford won the first set, 25-23, while Western Carolina took the second set in extra play by a score of 28-26. The set win was the first for the Catamounts in 10 sets after being swept in the last three matches. Samford then dominated the third and fourth sets, 25-7 and 25-14, to take the match win.
Samford out-blocked the Catamounts, 16-4, and out-dug them, 60-39, while also holding WCU to a .090 team hitting percentage. Samford did not hit below .375 throughout the entire match, notching a .556 hitting percentage in set three. WCU hit .324 in the first set but did not hit above .220 throughout the remainder of the match, hitting negative in the last two sets.
Samford was led again by Elizabeth Neisler with 16 kills followed by Allie Bettinger and Lauren Hutchinson with 14 and 13 kills respectively. Neisler also hit .419 with only three errors on 31 swings while grabbing a block assist and a dig. Bettinger hit .345 and also had six digs and three block assists. Hutchinson posted a team-high .458 while also tallying five digs, an ace, two solo blocks and eight block assists.
Casey Garvey posted her third double-double of the year with 47 assists and 12 digs. She also added a kill, a block assist and two aces. Alexis Bauer posted 20 digs, a block assist and two assists while Samantha Bland had nine digs, two aces and a kill.
Hillary Fountain and Katie Murphy each had six kills while Fountain added six assists, seven block assists, three digs and an ace. Murphy also hit .455 with only one error on 11 attempts while tallying six block assists. Lyndsey Holt added four digs while Taylor Palmer had a block assist and Taylor Chao had an ace.
Western Carolina was led by Amanda Chaparro with 14 kills and five digs. Paloma Alvarez followed with 12 kills, a team-high .194 hitting percentage and six digs. Morgan Cochran led the back row with 13 digs while Kelcie Randazzo ran the offense with 36 assists.
The Bulldogs round out their final road trip of the season Sunday as they take on Appalachian State in the Holmes Convocation Center at 1 p.m. Samford hopes to get a win and return in two weeks to the same venue for the Southern Conference Tournament.
Samford 3, Western Carolina 1
Western Carolina got on the board first in set one due to a service error by Garvey, but Fountain knocked down a kill to even the score and get Samford on the board. A kill by Chaparro and another Samford error put WCU ahead by two but Samford fought back and tied the score twice before taking a 10-9 lead. The Catamounts called a timeout and went on a 5-1 run to go ahead by three and force Samford to call a timeout.
WCU extended its lead to 15-11 out of the break with a service ace and eventually went ahead by as much as five. However, Samford fought back, and with four kills by Neisler, tied the score at 20. Garvey served up another ace to regain the lead at 21-20 and WCU called another timeout. Neisler came back with a kill to put the Bulldogs ahead by two, and although WCU held Samford at set point twice, the Bulldogs would go on to win the first set, 25-23, on a kill by Hutchinson.
Neisler downed the first kill for Samford in set two followed by Fountain with a kill to take an early 2-0 lead for the Bulldogs. WCU quickly answered back and tied the score. Samford took a three-point lead on kills by Neisler and Hutchinson and an ace by Hutchinson but the Catamounts answered back and took a three-point lead which forced Samford to call a timeout.
The Bulldogs fought back to tie the score three times and finally, with the score tied at 19, WCU called a timeout. The Catamounts took the lead out of the break with a kill by Best but Best followed with an error to tie the score again. Samford took the lead twice but WCU answered back to tie it and eventually went ahead by one on a kill by Alvarez. Samford called a timeout and came back to take the lead on a WCU error and a kill by Bettinger. The Catamounts called a timeout and a Samford error tied the score at 24. The score was tied twice more but WCU would come out with the 28-26 win in set two on a block by Rebecca Stoltz.
Samford opened the third set with a 4-0 run, starting with a kill by Hutchinson followed by a WCU error and two blocks by Hutchinson and Fountain. The Catamounts called a timeout and Samford came back with an ace by Garvey and a kill by Neisler to extend its lead to six. Carrie Minogue finally got the Catamounts on the board but Samford just tacked on five more points to take a 10-point lead and force WCU to call its second timeout.
Samford came back with four straight points - a block by Bettinger and Hutchinson, a kill by Hutchinson, a WCU error and an ace by Bland - before the Catamounts added their second point on an attack error by Bettinger. WCU could only score five more points in the set as Samford went on to win set three, 25-7, on a kill by Hutchinson.
Back-to-back errors by WCU gave Samford a quick 2-0 lead before Chaparro got the Catamounts on the board with a kill. Samford then tacked on four straight points with kills by Hutchinson, Bland and Fountain and an ace by Bland to take a five-point lead and force the Catamounts to call a timeout. WCU came back to get within three points on a Samford error but Samford eventually pushed its lead out to nine on a kill by Bettinger and an ace by Chao. WCU called another timeout but Samford continued to forge ahead and took the 25-14 win of set four.
