Nov. 19, 2011

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- Samford played in the fourth and final match in Saturday's SoCon Tournament Quarterfinals and earned a 3-1 victory over the No. 4 South seed Davidson to move on to Sunday's semifinal round. The win is Samford's second tournament win since joining the conference in 2008 and will pit the Bulldogs against the No. 2 South seed Furman, who swept Western Carolina Saturday to advance.

"Davidson came in with a lot of intensity and played a great match," said Head Coach Derek Schroeder. "Their defense was excellent and I'm very proud of the way our team dealt with that adversity."

Four sets all ended in 25-22 scores, with Samford (27-4) and Davidson (15-15) splitting the first two and the Bulldogs taking three and four. Each team had plenty of offensive power, with each team seeing four individuals in double-digit kills. Lauren Hutchinson led all players with 18 kills and 20.5 points, hitting .485 (18/2/33). The squads countered with stellar defense as each team had four players in double-digit digs, with Davidson holding the slight edge, 78-77. Samford's Alexis Bauer led all players with 20. Casey Garvey tallied 58 assists for the third game in a row, adding 11 digs for her seventh double-double of the season.

Christine Perzinski led the Wildcats with 17 kills, while Ariel Ley paced the offense with 51 assists and Tindall Sewell led all players with five blocks.

Samford never relented the lead in set one, holding a slight edge over the Wildcats en route to a 25-22 win. The teams traded points early in set one with three ties until, at 5-5, Samford went on a 10-7 run to earn their largest lead of the set so far, up 15-12. Neither team could maintain possession, and a Davidson attack error re-established a three-point lead for Samford and forced Davidson to take a timeout down 19-22. The Wildcats fought back within one, down 22-23, and took a timeout after a Katie Murphy kill put Samford at set point. With Chelsi Carter at the service line, Murphy knocked in another kill to seal the set one 25-22 win.

The Wildcats' offense was strong to start set two, as they build a 7-2 lead to force Samford to regroup with an early timeout. Davidson managed to keep the five-point lead for most of the set, but up 18-13, they let the Bulldogs score three unanswered, including a kill and a block by Murphy, to draw within two, down 16-18. Davidson reached set point, up 24-19, and the Bulldogs would not go down easily, knocking in three in a row. However, Davidson's Madison Benedict sealed the set with a kill to even the match at 1-1 at the break.

Neither offense was particularly strong in set three, as 12 combined attack errors stopped any momentum. Three lead changes led to an 11-11 tie, but Samford would hold their lead from that point on. Tied at 14-14, Samford put down three in a row to go up 17-14 and force a Davidson timeout. Tied at 18-18, Samford put together another 3-0 run and forced yet another Wildcat timeout. Each team scored four from that point on, but the Bulldogs' three-point lead proved enough to pull out the 25-22 set three win.

Davidson out-hit Samford in set four, but unlike set two, the Bulldogs earned points when they needed to, pulling out another 25-22 win. The set was neck-and-neck the entire time, with 14 ties and five lead changes leaving the teams deadlocked at 18-18. Davison looked to pull ahead, going up 21-19, but Samford responded with three in a row to pull ahead 22-21. Up 24-22, Elizabeth Neisler sealed the win with a kill of a Davidson serve to move the Bulldogs into Sunday's semifinals.

In the other half of the bracket, No. 2 North seed Appalachian State won in five sets over No. 3 South seed Georgia Southern and No. 1 South seed College of Charleston swept the No. 4 North seed Elon. The Mountaineers and the Cougars will face off Sunday at 2 p.m. The College of Charleston has advanced to the championship game every year since 2002, and the Mountaineers will look to make it for the first time since 2005, where they lost to the Cougars 3-1.

Samford plays Furman at 4:30 p.m., a rematch of 2008's semifinals which saw Furman take down Samford in five sets. The Bulldogs can make it to their first conference championship, while Furman will look to do so for the third time in four seasons.

Other Saturday Matches
(#2 North) Appalachian State def. (#3 South) Georgia Southern, 3-2
(#1 South) College of Charleston def. (#4 North) Elon, 3-0
(#2 South) Furman def. (#3 North) Western Carolina, 3-0