FULL MATCH NOTES (PDF)

VOLLEYBALL HITS THE ROAD FOR UNCG AND ELON
Samford begins a four-match road stint with two matches this weekend.  The Bulldogs play at UNCG on Friday, Oct. 5 at 6 p.m. ET and then will play at Elon the following day at 7 p.m. ET.

SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
UNCG (8-7, 3-1 SoCon) - The Spartans are sitting at second in the SoCon North Division after a 3-1 start to conference play.  They earned two five-set wins over Elon and The Citadel before falling to Western Carolina, 3-0, and then rebounding against Appalachian State, 3-1.  Juniors Karrian Chambers and Olivia Humphries are neck-and-neck for the team lead in kills with 175 and 174, respectively.  Outside Hitter Lauren Betlach was named the SoCon Freshman of the Week after averaging 3.43 kills and 2.57 digs last weekend against Western Carolina and Appalachian State.

Elon (8-11, 1-3 SoCon) - The Phoenix have struggled early in conference play, going 1-3.  They lost their first two games at home against UNCG and the College of Charleston and then split road contests with a 3-0 win over Western Carolina and a 1-3 loss to Appalachian State.  Freshman Megan Gravley leads the attack with 194 kills, 2.98 per set, while also adding 130 digs.  Freshman setter Ana Nicksic paces the offense with 538 assists while senior defensive specialist Ali Deatsch leads the defense with 267 digs.

HISTORY LESSON
Samford is 6-2 all-time against the Spartans with both of those losses coming on the road.  Samford has traditionally struggled against UNCG away from home, as the Bulldogs have been outscored 10-6 in Greensboro.  Both losses were 3-0 shutouts, occuring in 2008 and 2010.  However, Samford has won the last three meetings between the teams by a combined score of 9-3.

Samford is 6-3 all-time against Elon, 6-2 in SoCon contests.  The Bulldogs won the first three conference matchups, fell in the next two, but have since won the past three.  The Phoenix have only won one set during Samford's current three-match win streak.  Both of Elon's victories, one in 2009 and one in 2010, have come in Elon, N.C.

SAMFORD IN THE SOCON RANKS
Team Stats
Hitting Percentage - 2nd - .257
Opponent Hitting Percentage - 1st - .166
Kills - 4th - 881 (13.77/set)
Assists - 3rd - 815 (12.73/set)

Individual Stats
Hitting Percentage
Lauren Hutchinson - 1st - .375
Katie Murphy - 3rd - .353
Kills
Michaela Reesor - 6th - 214 (3.34/set)
Assists
Casey Garvey - 3rd - 678 (11.11/set)
Service Aces
Alexis Bauer - 4th - 23 (0.38/set)
Digs
Alexis Bauer - 5th - 315 (4.92/set)

SAMFORD EARNS TWO WINS TO MOVE TO 4-0 IN CONFERENCE
Samford extended its conference record to 4-0 last weekend with a road sweep at Chattanooga and a five-set win over Furman at home the following night.  The Chattanooga match was the Bulldogs' first SoCon road contest of the season and the offense continued to impress, hitting .376 as a team with 47 kills on 101 swings and only nine errors.  Middle blocker Lauren Hutchinson led the way with a season-high 16 kills and a .556 hitting percentage with fellow middle Katie Murphy accounting for 10 kills and a .558 clip.  Samford followed that performance up with a gutsy 3-2 win over Furman the following night in Birmingham, as the match was back-and-forth all the way to the very last point.  Sophomore outside hitter Michaela Reesor led the offense with a career-high 25 kills in addition to 12 digs, good for her third double-double of the season.

DEX HITS THE BIG 100
Last Saturday's win versus Furman was Head Coach Derek “Dex” Schroeder's 100th career win at Samford, bringing his overall record to 100-47.  He is one of five head coaches in the conference to reach 100 wins, having done so in only his fifth season at Samford.  His record in SoCon play is 52-18 with a winning percentage of .743, the second-highest SoCon winning percentage of any current conference coach only trailing the College of Charleston's Jason Kepner.


EXTENDING THE STREAK TO SEVEN
Samford has won its past seven contests, giving the Bulldogs the longest current win streak in the conference.  Samford's last loss came on Sept. 11 at Alabama, as they have since swept three opponents at the Bulldog Invitational and defeated four conference opponents.  The longest win streak in program history is 12 matches, a mark that was tied last season when Samford went undefeated in 12 matches from Oct. 5 to Nov. 13.

UP NEXT
Samford heads to Charleston, S.C. for two matchups against SoCon South Division opponents.  First, it's a rematch of last season's SoCon Championship as the Bulldogs face the South Divison-leading College of Charleston Cougars (12-5, 4-0 SoCon) on Friday, Oct. 12 at 7:30 p.m. ET.  The following day, Samford will face The Citadel (2-16, 0-4 SoCon) as the two Bulldogs face off at 7 p.m. ET.