FULL MATCH NOTES (PDF)

VOLLEYBALL TO TAKE ON TWO IN CHARLESTON
Samford heads to Charleston, S.C. this weekend to take on a pair of South Division opponents.  On Friday, Oct. 12 it will be a rematch of last season's conference championship as the Bulldogs face the College of Charleston Cougars at 7:30 p.m. ET.  The following night, Samford squares off against The Citadel Bulldogs at 7 p.m. ET.

SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
College of Charleston (13-6, 5-1 SoCon) - The defending South Division champions are in the middle of a tight race for the division this year, as they currently sit in second.  The Cougars went 7-5 in the preseason and have suffered only one loss since, a 3-1 defeat against Furman on Sunday that snapped a seven-match win streak.  The offense is led by Penn State transfer Darcy Dorton, who also leads the SoCon with 293 kills, averaging 4.19 per set.  2011 SoCon Freshman of the Year Sloane White is behind her with 185 kills and a team-leading 10 service aces.

The Citadel (4-18, 0-6 SoCon) - The Bulldogs have struggled so far this season, as they are currently winless in conference.  They recently snapped a seven-match losing streak with wins against Savannah State and Charleston Southern in a midweek double-header this past Tuesday.  Their leader on offense is senior right side Rachel Farrell with 168 kills.  Freshman setter Mikaela Tracy paces the offense with 572 assists while senior libero Emily Dalton leads the defense with 208 digs.

HISTORY LESSON
Samford is 5-12 all-time against the College of Charleston, 2-5 since joining the SoCon in 2008.  Samford was swept in three regular season meetings from 2008-2010 and the Cougars knocked the Bulldogs out of the conference tournament in 2009 and 2010.  Samford earned its first conference win against the College of Charleston last season, a 3-0 sweep in Birmingham, and then repeated the feat later that season with a sweep in the 2011 SoCon Championship match.

The Samford and Citadel Bulldogs have only squared off four times in program history, with Samford defeating The Citadel in all four contests.  During that span, The Citadel has only won one set against Samford, which occured in a 3-1 loss in Birmingham in 2009.

SAMFORD IN THE SOCON RANKS
Team Stats
Hitting Percentage - 2nd - .264
Opponent Hitting Percentage - 1st - .164
Kills - 2nd - 986 (13.89/set)
Assists - 2nd - 916 (12.90/set)
Aces - 4th - 87 (1.23/set)

Individual Stats
Hitting Percentage
Lauren Hutchinson - 1st - .383
Katie Murphy - 3rd - .346
Kills
Michaela Reesor - 5th - 241 (3.39/set)
Lauren Hutchinson - 9th - 213 (3.00/set)
Assists
Casey Garvey - 3rd - 765 (11.25/set)
Service Aces
Alexis Bauer - 4th - 24 (0.34/set)
Digs
Alexis Bauer - 5th - 352 (4.96/set)

SAMFORD TOUGHS OUT TWO CONFERENCE ROAD CONTESTS
Samford came out 2-0 after two very tough road contests last weekend, defeating UNCG 3-0 and Elon 3-1.  The opening set against UNCG was tightly contested, with the Spartans holding the lead for the vast majority of the frame.  Samford finally earned its first lead of the match, up 23-22, and used the momentum to edge out a 27-25 victory.  Set two was much more decisive, as Samford dominated for a 25-8 victory, the largest margin of victory for the Bulldogs in conference this season.  The Bulldogs won set three, 25-16, to seal the sweep.

The opening set against Elon was very similar to the one against UNCG, with both teams battling for control.  This time, however, Elon came out on top 27-25 to take the early 1-0 lead in the match.  Samford won set two, 25-14, to even the match and won set three, 25-22, to pull ahead 2-1.  The Phoenix fought hard to force a fifth set but Samford managed to pull away late and win, 25-19.

During the weekend, Lauren Hutchinson led the team with 28 kills while Micheala Reesor was just behind with 27.  The Bulldogs hit .321 as a team, with Hutchinson, Reesor and Katie Murphy all above .300.  Chelsi Carter earned six service aces, including a career-high four at Elon.  Alexis Bauer led the defense with 37 digs while Casey Garvey paced the offense with 87 assists.

RECORD WATCH
- Elizabeth Neisler is currently fourth all-time at Samford in career kills with 1,218.  She is 23 away from third (1,241) and 92 away from second (1,310).  She is on pace to finish with 264 kills by the end of the regular season, which would give her a career total of 1,482 and place her second all-time.

- Casey Garvey is fourth all-time at Samford in career assists with 3,154.  She is 980 away from third (4,134) and 993 away from second (4,147).  At her current pace, she'll finish the regular season with 1,148, giving her a career total of 4,302 which would move her to second all-time.

- Last weekend, Katie Murphy moved to 10th all-time in career solo blocks with 59.  She's very close to moving up, only four behind a tie at eighth (63), six away from seventh (65) and ten away from sixth (69).  She's on pace to finish the regular season with 18 solo blocks, which would bring her career total to 77 and vault her all the way to fifth.

- Lauren Hutchinson currently ranks eighth in career assisted blocks with 207.  She is only 30 away from seventh place (237).  She is on pace to finish the regular season with 60, bringing her career total to 267, which would rank sixth all-time.

- Lauren Hutchinson and Katie Murphy currently own the top two career hitting percentages at .390 and .369, respectively, with the next-highest total being .339.


UP NEXT
Samford returns home for two more South Division opponents.  On Saturday, Oct. 20 Samford welcomes the division-leading Georgia Southern Eagles (14-6, 5-1 SoCon) to the Pete Hanna Center for a 2 p.m. CT matchup.  The following afternoon, Samford squares off against Davidson (7-9, 3-3 SoCon) at 2 p.m. CT.