Sept. 11, 2010
Box Score
OXFORD, Miss. ---- The Samford volleyball team dropped its final two matches Saturday in the Magnolia Invitational. The Bulldogs fell to Southern Miss, 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-13), Saturday morning before being swept by Ole Miss (25-21, 25-20, 25-20) Saturday night.
Alexis Bauer was named to the All-Tournament Team after averaging 3.91 digs per set. She posted a weekend high of 18 against Louisiana on Friday and dished out 16 against Ole Miss Saturday night. She was joined on the team by Regina Thomas and Ashley Veach from Ole Miss, Ashley Mell and Halie Ecker from Southern Miss and Leslie Mirarchi from Louisiana. Ole Miss's Miranda Kitts was named the Most Valuable Player.
Against USM, Katie Murphy led with 12 kills, hitting .296, while also grabbing two digs and one block solo. Casey Garvey dished out 29 assists and six digs and also dumped two kills. Allie Bettinger led the Bulldogs in digs with nine while also posting six kills and an assist.
Elizabeth Neisler also added six kills and one dig while Holt posted five kills and seven digs. Gadberry had three kills and a dig while Taylor Palmer had a kill and a dig. Hillary Fountain also posted three assists and three digs while Alexis Bauer added nine digs and an assist.
Southern Miss was led by Ashley Mell and Halie Ecker with 17 and 11 kills, respectively. Kelsea Seymour posted a team-high 33 assists while Lisa Knecht led the Golden Eagles in digs with 17.
"The team has forgotten what it is to win with heart, hard work and effort," Samford head coach Derek Schroeder said. "We have far too many close plays we are just not making."
Against Ole Miss, Bettinger and Neisler led the Bulldogs with 11 kills each. Neisler hit a team-high. 348 while also grabbing an assist, a dig and a block assist. Bettinger also posted five digs. Garvey dished out 17 assists while Fountain added 12. Garvey also had six digs while Fountain posted three along with two aces.
Murphy knocked down seven kills for the Bulldogs along with a solo block and a block assist while Palmer added six kills. Holt had three kills and six digs while Bland added one dig.
Ole Miss was led by Allegra Wells with 11 kills and two block assists followed by Thomas with nine kills, two solo blocks and four block assists. Amanda Philpot dished out 22 assists while Emily Kvitle had 10. Philpot also led the Rebels in digs with eight.
Samford will be back in action on the road next weekend as the Bulldogs wrap up preseason tournament play in the Rice Invitational II. There they will take on Stephen F. Austin, Rice and Arkansas State.
Southern Miss 3, Samford 0
Samford got on the board first in set one on a kill by Bettinger, but Southern Miss answered back quickly with its own kill. The Golden Eagles then took the lead but never led by more than three points. The Bulldogs fought back to tie the score at 18 but USM added three straight points on two kills and an ace to take a three-point lead again and force Samford to call a timeout. The Golden Eagles extended the gap to four after the break on an ace but Neisler cut it back to three on a kill. However, USM would tack on four straight points to take the first set, 25-20.
Southern Miss opened up the second set with a block to get on the board first but Gadberry responded with a kill to tie the score. The Golden Eagles then went on a 5-1 run to take a four-point lead and force the Bulldogs to call an early timeout. USM eventually pushed its lead out to six, going on back-to-back 3-0 runs before Samford called its final timeout of the set. Samford gained a point out of the break on a USM attack error but the Golden Eagles went on a 5-0 run to take a 23-13 lead. However, the Bulldogs answered back with a 4-0 run of their own to cut the lead to six, with kills by Gadberry and Neisler, and USM called its first timeout of the set. USM would come out of the break and score two points to win set two, 25-17.
In set three, Samford took a quick 3-2 lead on kills by Garvey, Holt and Murphy but USM put together a 5-0 run to take a four-point lead. Samford called a timeout but Southern Miss continued to press and went on a 15-5 run to take a 14-point lead. With the Golden Eagles leading 22-8, the Bulldogs fought for three more points, but USM would go on to win the third set 25-13 to capture the match win.
Ole Miss 3, Samford 0
Bettinger scored the first point of the match for the Bulldogs on a kill but Ole Miss quickly answered with one of its own. The score was tied four times before the Rebels scored three straight to take a three-point lead. However, Samford fought back and tied the score four more times before the Bulldogs took the lead on a couple of Rebel errors and kills by Neisler and Holt.
Ole Miss took a timeout and charged right back to tie the score at 19, forcing Samford to call a timeout. However, the Rebels continued to press, going on a 4-1 run to take a 23-20 lead. After another Bulldog timeout, Samford got within two points on an Ole Miss error but the Rebels would go on to win set one, 25-21.
The Rebels knocked down a block to score the first point of the second set but Murphy slammed a kill to even the score. The Bulldogs then took a two-point lead on back-to-back Rebel errors but Ole Miss answered back with a kill and a block to tie the score. However, Samford went on a 4-0 run to take a 9-5 lead on kills by Bettinger and Fountain but the Rebels came back with their own run to tie the score at nine.
Ole Miss eventually took a three-point lead and Samford took a timeout, but the Rebels forged ahead and extended the lead to six as Samford took another timeout. The Bulldogs went on a 5-3 run to get within four points, capped off by kill by Murphy but the Rebels answered back with a kill to win set two, 25-20.
In set three, Ole Miss jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead before Samford got within one point on a solo block by Murphy and a Rebel error. The Rebels moved back ahead but the Bulldogs tied the score on a kill by Bettinger and another Rebel error. However, Ole Miss went on a 4-0 run to take an 8-4 lead before Samford called a timeout.
Bettinger got Samford within three out of the break but the Rebels extended their lead and eventually took a 20-15 advantage as the Bulldogs called their final timeout of the set. The Bulldogs climbed back to within four points and held the Rebels at match-point twice but Ole Miss would go on to win the third and final set, 25-20.
