Sept. 25, 2011

Box Score

CULLOWHEE, N.C. ---- Samford (14-2, 1-1 SoCon) bounced back from Saturday's loss, sweeping Western Carolina (6-11, 1-1 SoCon) on Sunday to earn their first conference win of the season.

"Elizabeth Neisler played another big match," said Head Coach Derek Schroeder, "and she kept us in when we fell behind in set three. It was a good response as a team less than 18 hours after a tough road loss."

Neisler continued a strong weekend earning 19 kills today, 39 total, and had 44 of the team's 119 attempts. Hutchinson hit .524, earning 12 kills on 21 attempts. Alexis Bauer, Chelsi Carter and Casey Garvey split defensive duties, each earning double-digit digs to out-dig Western Carolina 58-42.

Samford set a strong pace in game one, pulling ahead to an 11-6 lead, ending with three consecutive kills by Neisler off of jump-serves by Carter, forcing a Catamount timeout. Bauer, Garvey and Neisler all earned turns serving in the next stretch, advancing Samford's lead to 18-11. Western Carolina took three in a row and then each team traded points back and forth for the remainder of the set, with Samford eventually winning 25-19.

The second set was evenly matched, with neither team taking more than a two-point lead until Neisler slammed home a kill off a Carter serve to pull ahead 17-14 and force a Western Carolina timeout. Carter earned a service ace, followed by a service error, but earned back possession in spectacular fashion, taking a ball off the foot that bounced over the net in play for Samford's 19th point. Samford maintained the momentum for the remainder of the game, with Neisler serving up three in a row to end the set 25-18.

In the third and final set, Western Carolina jumped ahead to a 7-3 lead, but Samford came back to tie it at 9-9 and force a Catamount timeout. Western Carolina maintained a slim lead in the middle of the set, building up to a three-point lead to force Samford to take a timeout down 18-21. Samford had their backs against the wall and Western Carolina was poised to win the set, up 24-21. The Catamounts had a service error on the set point however, which allowed Carter to serve up three in a row to move up 25-24. Each team earned one more point and then a Western Carolina attack error off a Bauer serve gave Samford the 27-25 victory and secured the 3-0 match sweep.

Samford resumes play Saturday, Oct 1, hitting the road against Furman in a 1 p.m. CT match.