Nov. 13, 2011
Box Score
2011 SoCon Tournament Bracket 
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- Samford's final home game of the season was spoiled by Appalachian State, as a Bulldog comeback was cut short in the fifth set, seeing Samford fall at home for the first time all season. The loss snaps a12-match Bulldog win streak, which is tied for the longest streak in school history. It is also the team's first five-set loss this season.
"That was a great match today, both teams played very well," said Head Coach Derek Schroeder. "We managed to make them very one-dimensional at the pins but we just couldn't quite make the plays when we knew what they were going to do.
"It gives us something to improve upon this week and a touch of a competitive edge going into next weekend."
Despite the loss, Samford (26-4, 13-3 SoCon) still earned more points than Appalachian State (20-10, 12-4 SoCon), outscoring them 79-71. Samford had four players in double-digit kills, led by Michaela Reesor with a career-best 18 while hitting .517 (18/3/29), her best percentage in conference play this season. She also played strong defensively, tallying 16 digs to earn her third double-double of the season. The Bulldogs out-blocked the Mountaineers, 8-4, with Katie Murphy leading the team with five assisted. Casey Garvey matched her career-best assists total from yesterday with 58 today, while Alexis Bauer led the defense with 18 digs.
The Appalachian State offense was led by outside hitters Kelly Rhein and Anna Wagner, earning 25 kills each. Kasey Sauls was the Mountaineers' assists leader with 51 while libero Courtney Rhein led the defense with 27 digs.
The first set was the Bulldogs' best, as they fired away to a 25-12 win, the largest margin of victory by either team for the match. Samford was rolling right from the start, jumping ahead to a quick 5-0 lead and building on that to as much as a eight-point lead, up 11-3. The Mountaineers scored two in a row, drawing within six, but this would be the last time all set Samford would allow Appalachian State to score consecutive points. Down 10-18, the Mountaineers had possession but a service error gave Samford the point and possession, allowing them to go on a 7-2 run to close out the set with both Garvey and Elizabeth Neisler seeing extended time at the service line.
The Mountaineers rebounded quickly, evening the match at 1-1 with a 25-21 set two win. Neither team could gain momentum in the early portion of the set, with Samford coming back to tie the match four times, leading to a 9-9 tie. The Mountaineers strung three consecutive points together to take the three-point lead, but Samford answered with two to draw back within one. The Mountaineers managed to hold a slim lead until, down 14-17, a bad set gave Samford the ball and Garvey and Murphy paired up for two consecutive blocks to tie the match at 17-17. Appalachian State answered right back with three in a row however, forcing a Samford timeout. The Mountaineers would hold the three-point lead until, at set point, a Samford service error gave them the winning point to even the match at 1-1.
The third set played out similarly to the second, ending with a 25-23 win for the Mountaineers. The beginning was again tightly contested, as neither team could hold their lead, allowing the other to tie the match back up. Tied at 12-12, the Mountaineers found some momentum, going on a 5-1 run to jump ahead 17-13. Samford answered with two in a row, but Appalachian State came right back with three of their own to build a five-point lead, 20-15. The Bulldogs looked to make a big comeback late, going on an 8-4 run, including four kills and a block by Neisler, to only be down one at set point, 23-24. The comeback fell short however, with an Anna Wagner kill putting the Mountaineers ahead 2-1.
With their backs against the walls, the Bulldogs rallied in front of a raucous home crowd to draw the match even at 2-2 with a 25-18 win in the fourth set. Samford started the set with a 7-3 run, with the teams trading two points each after to force Appalachian State to take an early timeout with the Bulldogs up, 9-5. The Mountaineers came out of the break to earn two in a row, but two Reesor kills and an assisted block, along with Hutchinson, gave the Bulldogs a five-point lead, up 12-7. Up four late, 22-18, Taylor Chao came in the game to serve and rattled off three in a row at the service line to seal the 25-18 win and force a fifth set.
The Bulldogs had not lost a fifth set all season, but the Mountaineers played well after the mid-set switch to earn the 15-12 edge. Down 4-6, Appalachian State put up four in a row to give them the lead at the switch and then added a fifth point to go up 9-6 and force a Samford timeout. Down 9-14, the Bulldogs looked to make a late comeback, putting away three in a row to draw within two, 12-14. Kelly Rhein ended any hope of a comeback however, providing the final kill for the Mountaineers to earn a hard-fought 3-2 victory.
The match was also senior day for the team's lone senior, Shelby Brandon, as they honored her in a pre-game ceremony. Though the Hoover, Ala., native has not played this season due to an ankle surgery last year, she has totaled 186 kills, 56 digs and 82 total blocks in 48 matches since joining the program in 2008 as one of Schroeder's first recruits at Samford.
Samford will host the 2011 SoCon Volleyball Tournament next weekend, with three days of matches kicking off on Saturday, Nov. 19. Saturday's quarterfinal matches will play as follows...
10 a.m. - #2N Appalachian State vs. #3S Georgia Southern
12:30 p.m. - #1S College of Charleston vs. #4N Elon
4:30 p.m. - #2S Furman vs. #3N Western Carolina
7:00 p.m. - #1N Samford vs. #4S Davidson
Single-session tickets will be $10 for adults and $5 for youths ages 3-12, while an adult tournament pass is $25 and a youth pass is $15. Students of any Southern Conference institution can get in free with a valid school ID.
