Nov. 4, 2011
Box Score
ELON, N.C. --- Samford earned its tenth-consecutive win with a key division victory on the road, sweeping Elon 25-14, 25-14 and 25-20 Friday night.
Samford (24-3, 11-2 SoCon) earns its 11th conference victory of the season, while Elon (16-13, 4-9 SoCon) drops their fourth straight match, falling to 4-9 in conference play. The Bulldog attack was not particularly strong, only hitting .154, but they held the Phoenix to a -.019 clip, taking advantage of attack errors in key stretches.
Lauren Hutchinson led the attack with nine kills and a .533 hitting percentage, committing only one attack error in 15 attacks. Casey Garvey put up 32 of the team's 35 assists, bringing her season total to 1,082 and putting her 100 assists shy of the single season top ten assists list at Samford. Elon out-blocked Samford 9-8, but Samford held the considerable edge in digs, 55-35, with libero Alexis Bauer leading the defensive effort with 17.
The Bulldogs started slow but pulled away in the second half of set one, eventually earning a 25-14 victory. Tied at 6-6, Samford began to widen the gap as they put down three in a row to jump ahead 9-6 and maintained the three point lead, eventually going up 13-10. The Bulldogs turned up the heat and an Elon service error helped spur a 7-2 Bulldog run, forcing multiple Phoenix attack errors to pull ahead 20-12. Elon tacked on two more with Samford adding another, but the Bulldogs didn't waste any more time putting the game away, with four Elon attack errors earning the final four points of the set in Samford's favor to secure the 11-point win.
Yet again in set two, the teams found themselves tied at 6-6 and, again, Samford took control of the set after that point, mounting a 11-4 run, including three kills by Hutchinson, to build a 17-10 lead. Elon chipped away at the lead, drawing within four, down 15-19, due in part to some Samford errors. An Elon substitution allowed the Bulldogs a moment to regain their composure and an Elizabeth Neisler kill gave Samford the 20-14 lead and ball possession, which Samford held through a 5-0 run to close out the game.
Elon refused to give up the third set as easily, hanging with Samford every step of the way, but the Bulldogs eventually pulled out a 25-20 victory to complete the sweep. The first part of the set was again tightly contested, seeing Samford maintain a slim lead before Elon came back to tie it up at 10-10. Later, tied at 12-12, Samford looked to pull away with a 5-2 run but the Phoenix answered with two in a row to draw within one, down 16-17. The teams traded points evenly, eventually giving Samford a one-point lead up 21-20. Similar to the previous sets, the Bulldogs came alive in the closing portion of the set, charging to a win behind four unanswered points, including three combined kills by the freshmen duo of Michaela Reesor and Chelsi Carter, sealing the five-point win and the sweep.
Samford plays their last SoCon road match of the season tomorrow, facing off against UNC Greensboro at 6 p.m. CT.
