Nov. 5, 2011
Box Score
GREENSBORO, N.C. --- The Samford volleyball team earned sole possession of first place in the Southern Conference with a nail-biting five-set win over UNC Greensboro in Samford's final road conference match of the season.
"It was a tough match tonight," said Head Coach Derek Schroeder. "That UNCG team played like the team the entire conference expected them to be this season. Some of our girls really showed up tonight and played to win."
Samford (25-3, 12-2 SoCon) is now 3-0 in five-set matches this season, while UNCG (15-15, 7-7 SoCon) falls to .500 in conference play. Casey Garvey earned her sixth double-double of the season, earning 53 assists and 13 digs. She is now only 47 assists shy of the cracking the single-season top ten at Samford. Three Bulldogs earned double-digit kills, with Lauren Hutchinson leading the team with 17 kills and a .471 clip (17/1/34). Alexis Bauer earned her highest dig total since Sept. 24, tallying 26 of the team's 75, while Chelsi Carter matched her highest dig total in conference play this season, adding 17 to the Bulldogs' total.. Katie Murphy was a force up front, earning seven blocks, three solo and four assisted.
UNCG played hard, with Karrian Chambers and Ariel Newman earning 13 kills each, with Ari Lysacek leading the Spartans in assists with 34 and Kelli Orewiler leading the team in digs with 21.
"That was as good as Murphy and Carter have been in a while. Some of us played a shaky road match but as a team we pulled together and managed to find a win!"
In set one, the Bulldogs only managed to earn as much as a three-point lead in the early going, as the Spartans fought back every step of the way. Tied at 12-12, Neisler landed a kill to break the tie and give Samford possession, allowing Garvey to serve up four in a row to give the Bulldogs their largest lead so far in the set, up 17-12. That run provided the offensive spark the team needed, as they would not let UNCG draw within four points the rest of the set. Up 21-17, the Bulldogs closed out the set with a 4-0 run, all Spartan attack errors, with Michaela Reesor at the service line to seal the 25-17 win.
The Spartans bounced back in set two, evening the match at 1-1 with a 25-16 victory. Up 7-5, UNCG went on a 5-1 run to build a six-point lead. Later, down 7-14, Samford looked to rally back with two kills by Neisler and a UCNG attack error bringing them within four, down 10-14. Four points would be the closest the Bulldogs would come in set two however, as the Spartans came alive in the second half. UNCG hit the 20-point mark with a seven-point lead and would finish the set with a 5-2 run, making the final 25-16.
Set three would prove more tightly contested than the previous two, but the Spartans would be the ones to edge out the 25-22 victory. UNCG battled to an early four-point lead, up 7-3, but the Bulldogs answered back with three in a row to draw within one, down 6-7. The teams traded points evenly for a while until Samford finally tied the game back up at the halfway point, 12-12. UNCG looked to pull away multiple times, putting down consecutive kills but the Bulldogs always fought back, staying within two points. UNCG again hit the 20-point mark first, up 20-17, but Samford answered with back-to-back kills by Hutchinson and Chelsi Carter to pull within one, 19-20. Down 21-23, an attack error gave Samford the point and possession, as the Bulldogs looked to overtake the Spartans and reach 25. UNCG reached set point on the next serve however and Ariel Newman sealed the Spartan win with a kill to go up 25-22.
Samford refused to drop three straight sets and lose, as they forced a fifth frame with a 25-20 win. Samford started the set with a Hutchinson service ace and rolled to an early 5-1 lead. The Spartans scored four in a row afterwards, tying the match at 5-5. Later, tied at 7-7, Samford would score three in a row to build a three point lead and would not relent the lead for the rest of the set. Up 12-9, Samford would make a key 6-2 run to build their largest lead of the set. The gap proved large enough as the Bulldogs played a resilient Spartan team that drew within three late, refusing to give up. Up 23-20, Murphy and Carter knocked down back-to-back kills to force a tiebreaking fifth set.
The fifth set was a thrilling finish to the match, as the teams were tied at seven different points in the set. The Spartans looked to earn a sizeable lead heading into the mid-set switch, pulling ahead 7-4. Samford however took the lead at the switch, knocking in four in a row with Carter at the service line to pull ahead 8-7. UNCG tied it up for the last time at 11-11 before Samford came through in the clutch with a 4-1 run, including two kills by Hutchinson as the final two points of the match for the Bulldogs, sealing the three-point win and the 3-2 match victory.
The Bulldogs close out the regular season next weekend at home, playing Western Carolina (11-17, 6-6 SoCon) on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 2 p.m. and Appalachian State (18-9, 10-3 SoCon) on Sunday, Nov. 13 at 2 p.m. Two wins next weekend would secure a regular-season conference championship for the Bulldogs, which would be their third title in four seasons.
