Sept. 4, 2010
Box Score
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford University volleyball team split a pair of matches on the final day of the Bulldog Invitational presented by McDonald's. The Bulldogs swept Tennessee Tech (25-10, 25-18, 25-20) in the 3 p.m. match but fell to Syracuse, 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-19), in the feature match Saturday night.
Lauren Hutchinson and Hillary Fountain were named to the Bulldog Invitational All-Tournament Team. Hutchinson averaged 3.15 kills per set and hit .485 over four matches while tallying eight blocks. Fountain averaged 8.77 assists per set and 2.31 digs per set.
Also on the All-Tournament Team were Leah Meffert of Tennessee Tech, Taylor Deering of Northwestern State, Kayla Saey and Rachelle Wilson of North Texas and Mindy Stanislovaitis and Noemie Lefebvre of Syracuse. Syracuse's Hayley Todd was named the Most Valuable Player.
Hutchinson and Elizabeth Neisler led the Bulldogs in their match against the Golden Eagles as each posted 11 kills. Hutchinson hit a team-high .625 while also knocking down two block assists and one block solo along with one ace and two digs. Katie Murphy posted nine kills and hit .500 while also posting three block assists, and Taylor Palmer added seven kills and two block assists.
Fountain posted her first double-double of the season as she dished out 33 assists and 15 digs. She also added two kills, three aces and two block assists. Samantha Bland also landed in double digits in digs with 13 while also adding two assists. Alexis Bauer had eight digs and two aces while Casey Garvey added three assists, three digs and one ace. Allie Bettinger also had four kills, five digs, two aces and one block assist.
Tennessee Tech was led by Kelsey Gray who posted seven kills and three blocks followed by Marie Peddicord and Elise Robertson with five kills each. Melanie Culp recorded a team-high 21 assists and added eight digs while Allison May led in digs with nine.
Against Syracuse, Bettinger led the Bulldogs with 11 kills and four digs followed by Neisler and Hutchinson with nine kills each. The duo also hit .353 and recorded one dig each while Neisler added one solo block and Hutchinson had a block assist. Fountain led the team in assists with 33 while also tallying three kills, three digs and an ace. Bland had 10 digs along with two assists while Murphy added five kills, two digs and one block assist. Palmer posted three kills and two block assists while Bauer had five digs and one assist. Garvey added an ace and a dig.
Syracuse was led by Lefebvre who tallied 13 kills and hit .435 while grabbing two digs and two block assists. Lindsey McCabe posted nine kills and a team-high .462 hitting percentage along with five block assists. Laura Homann added a team-high 37 assists while Todd posted 10 digs.
In other Bulldog Invitational action on Saturday, Syracuse swept Northwestern State while North Texas swept Tennessee Tech and Northwestern State grabbed its only win of the tournament over North Texas in five sets.
Samford will be back in action next weekend as the Bulldogs head to Oxford, Miss., to play in the Magnolia Invitational. There Samford will meet up with the University of Louisiana, Southern Miss and host team Ole Miss.
Samford 3, Tennessee Tech 0
The Bulldogs took a quick 3-0 lead in the first set following a kill and a block by Hutchinson and another kill by Neisler. A Samford error handed TTU its first point of the game but Samford scored four straight points to move ahead by six. The Golden Eagles managed to cut the lead to two, but the Bulldogs moved back out ahead by five to force TTU to take a timeout. Samford went on a 5-3 run out of the break to extend its lead to eight and after another TTU timeout, the Bulldogs would go on a 7-1 run to win the first set, 25-10.
Samford took another 3-0 lead quickly in the second set but the Golden Eagles responded fast with a 5-1 run to take the lead. However, the lead was short-lived for TTU as Samford forged back on a 6-0 run to take a four-point lead with the help of a couple of kills and a block by Murphy and Bettinger. The Golden Eagles fought to keep the score within four points, but Samford continued to press forward and would go on to win the second set, 25-18.
The third set opened up as a close game until a kill by Hutchinson tied the score at eight. That sparked a 7-1 run which gave the Bulldogs a five-point lead and forced TTU to call a timeout. The Bulldogs then posted five straight points out of the break to take an 18-10 lead. The Golden Eagles would cut the lead to as much as six but Samford would win set three, 25-19.
Syracuse 3, Samford 0
Syracuse took a quick lead in the first set after two errors by Samford but an Orange service error and a block by Hutchinson and Palmer got the Bulldogs on the board and tied the score. The score was tied three more times before Syracuse took a four-point lead and Samford called a timeout. However, Samford answered back after the break with a kill by Hutchinson and eventually tied the score at 20. Syracuse took a timeout and came back with a 4-2 run to get to set-point. Samford then took a timeout but the Orange would score two straight points to win the first set, 25-23.
Again, Syracuse scored three straight points right away to take a 3-0 lead but Samford answered back with a 4-1 run to tie the score at four. The Orange took the lead again but Bettinger knocked down a kill to tie the score once more. However, Syracuse would go on an 11-6 run to take a 16-11 lead and force the Bulldogs to take a timeout. Samford would only get within five points as Syracuse would go one to win set two, 25-18.
Hutchinson scored the first point for the Bulldogs in the third set on a kill, and after Syracuse answered back, scored Samford's second point. The score was tied two more times before the Orange took a three-point lead but Samford came back to tie the score again at seven on a kill by Bettinger, a block by Neisler and a Syracuse error. However, the Orange would put together a 4-1 run to take an 11-8 lead and force Samford to call a timeout.
Samford fought to get within one point after the timeout on kills by Neisler, Hutchinson and Murphy but Syracuse extended its lead to five before Samford called its last timeout. Nothing worked, however, as the Orange would go on to win set three, 25-19.
