Oct. 29, 2011

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- After a quick road trip and a win yesterday, Samford returned to the Pete Hanna Center on Homecoming weekend for a 3-0 sweep over Wofford Saturday, pushing their undefeated home record to 10-0 this season.

As a team, Samford (23-3, 10-2 SoCon) hit their second-highest percentage of the season, hitting .438 (42-10-73) with Katie Murphy again leading the charge with a .625 clip (11-1-16). The Wofford (13-15, 2-9 SoCon) offense earned the highest hitting percentage Samford has allowed in nearly a month, earning a .241 clip (31-12-79). Blocks were even at four a piece while Samford held the edge in digs, 30-18, and assists, 39-29. Casey Garvey continued what has been a stellar season pacing the attack, tallying more assists (33) than the entire Wofford offense. The duo of Murphy and Elizabeth Neisler led the team in kills with 11 each and libero Alexis Bauer was the digs leader with 11, her fourth straight match with double digit digs.

Down 1-2 early in set one, a Terrier service error tied the game and gave Samford possession, allowing Garvey to serve up four in a row to jump ahead 6-2. The Bulldogs maintained the four-point lead and up 12-8, went on a 6-1 run, including two kills and three successful serves by Garvey, to double up the Terriers, 18-9. Each team scored seven after that, giving Samford the win with a final score of 25-16.

The Bulldogs got off to an even hotter start in set two, with Bauer and Garvey spurring extended runs to jump ahead 10-1. Samford caught Wofford's defense off-balance, as five of those ten points were service aces. Despite such a large early deficit, the Terriers fought back, chipping away at the lead to eventually draw within four, down 10-14. Samford began to pull away again during the next stretch, going up 19-13 but the Terriers had a comeback in mind, drawing within three, down 18-21. Samford's starting offense came back on the court late to try and close the game out and they succeeded, as a 4-2 run sealed the 25-20 win.

It was Samford who was on the losing side of an early deficit in game three, as Wofford came out with good energy following the ten minute break to jump ahead 9-4 early. The Bulldogs didn't waste any time coming back, as a Wofford service error gave Samford the point and possession, followed by Taylor Chao serving four in a row to tie the match up at 9-9. Up 12-11 shortly after, Chelsi Carter knocked in a kill and followed that up with an impressive seven consecutive serves, including three aces, to build a substantial 20-11 Bulldog lead. Samford reached set point with a 4-3 run and after giving up two points to Wofford, a Terrier service error gave the Bulldogs the final point to seal the sweep with a 25-16 victory.

Samford takes its final road trip of the season next weekend, first facing Elon on Friday Nov. 4 at 6 p.m. The next day they take a trip to nearby UNC Greensboro for a 2 p.m. start.