Sept. 24, 2011
Box Score
BOONE, N.C. ---- In its conference opener, Samford (13-2, 0-1 SoCon) fell to Appalachian State (9-6, 1-0 SoCon) in a tough road contest Saturday. The Bulldogs could not find the offensive balance they have seen all season and were on the wrong side of one too many errors.
"We came into one of the toughest places to play in the SoCon," said Head Coach Derek Schroeder, "against a team that is always well prepared and we just couldn't get over the hump. We played an efficient first set, gave them an inch in set two and they took a mile. We learned our lesson and will apply it to the next game.
"Elizabeth Neisler was impressive tonight, fighting for every point. When it felt like our team wanted to pack it in, she did a great job leading."
Neisler led the team in kills, scoring 20 of the team's 51. Unfortunately, 27 Samford attack errors resulted in a team hitting percentage of .168, a season-low. Blocking duties were spread evenly seven players credited, led by Katie Murphy with three (1 solo, 4 assisted).
The score was even in seven different parts of the first set, the score was even until, tied 9-9, Samford went on a 5-1 run to pull ahead 14-10 and force a Mountaineer timeout. Appalachian State narrowed the gap in the next stretch, with Samford taking a timeout up 18-15. The momentum shifted back in the Bulldogs' favor afterwards, as they capitalized on Mountaineer errors. Samford had the set point but gave up possession to State, but Hutchinson prevented a Mountaineer comeback slamming home the final kill to win the game 25-20.
Appalachian State evened the match at 1-1 with a 25-20 victory in the second set, snapping a 14-set win streak by the Bulldogs. They took control of the game early, taking a 6-2 lead to force the Bulldogs to take an early timeout. Down 13-6, the Bulldogs rattled off three consecutive points, two of which came off kills by Neisler. Samford took another timeout down 10-16 and came out strongly, narrowing the gap to three points, forcing Appalachian State to take a timeout up 19-16. Samford kept in the game, earning possession down 24-20, but Appalachian State put one away to even the match up.
The third set played out much like the first, with neither team able to take a significant lead. Appalachian State took a timeout down 14-16 and each team scored five points, at which point Samford took a timeout. The Bulldogs earned the first point out of the break, but the Mountaineers were able to take three in a row after that to even the set at 22-22. Samford was poised for the set point, up 24-23, but each team traded points back and forth until Appalachian State finally gained the two-point edge, 27-25.
Up 6-5 in the fourth set, Appalachian State scored seven unanswered points to take a large 13-5 lead. Appalachian State maintained their eight-point lead, forcing the Bulldogs to take a timeout down 9-17. The Mountaineers never relented the rest of the set, ultimately maintaining that eight-point lead earning a 25-17 set victory and 3-1 match victory.
The Bulldogs continue conference play tomorrow with a 2 p.m. CT match against Western Carolina.
