Box Score ELON, N.C. ---- Samford battled against a very tough Elon team on the road Saturday night, falling in the opening set but rallying for a 3-1 win to stay perfect in SoCon play this season.
 
Heading into this match, Samford (14-6, 6-0 SoCon) held a 1-4 record this season when losing the first set.  The Bulldogs bucked the trend, winning the next three for the four-set victory.  The Bulldogs now have a nine-match win streak, dropping only three sets during that stretch.
 
“We were not particularly crisp tonight,” said Head Coach Derek Schroeder, “but we found a way to get it done.  Chelsi [Carter] and Lexi [Bauer] served really well when we struggled to find a rhythm.  [Katie] Murphy and Lauren [Hutchinson] both handled their blocking scheme by increasing the tempo.”
 
Yet again, Samford's attack was anchored by its middle blockers with Lauren Hutchinson hitting .407 with 14 kills while Katie Murphy had ten kills of her own on 29 swings.  The pair combined for five solo blocks and five assisted blocks as well.  Murphy's three solo and three assisted blocks are a season-high and it puts her at 10th all-time at Samford in career solo blocks with 59.  Michaela Reesor led all players with 17 kills and added ten digs for her fourth double-double of the season.  Chelsi Carter saw the most time at the service line Saturday night, tallying a career-high four service aces.
 
“Elon played very well,” said Schroeder.  “They were better than what we saw in film and pushed us hard tonight.  I'm proud we found a way to gut out a win.”
 
Elon (8-12, 1-4 SoCon) had three in double-digit kills, led by Megan Gravley with 13, while Ali Deatsch led the defense with 17 digs and Ana Nicksic paced the offense with 42 assists.
 
Play was even to begin the first set when, tied at 5-5, Samford scored three in a row with Chelsi Carter at the service line to move up 8-5.  Samford began to widen the gap, moving up by five on a kill by Hutchinson as Elon took a timeout trailing 13-8.  The Bulldogs hit the 20-point mark first, as an Elon service error gave Samford a three-point lead, up 20-17.  The Phoenix scored two in a row to draw within one, down 20-19, and a kill by Carter made it 21-19 and the Bulldogs looked to strategize, calling a timeout.  Elon fought back quickly, tying the match at 21-21 with possession.  Elon ended up taking the lead, 23-22, and the teams battled back-and-forth until the Phoenix managed to earn the close win, 27-25.
 
Similarly to set one, set two got off to an even start before, up 5-4, Samford rattled off three in a row to go up 8-4 as Elon took a timeout.  Up by four later, 11-7, back-to-back kills by Elizabeth Neisler would stretch Samford's lead to six as the Phoenix took another timeout.  The Bulldogs would continue to roll coming out of the break, scoring three more unanswered points to move up 16-7.  Up by double digits, 21-11, a Samford attack error and an Elon service ace brought the Phoenix within eight as Samford took a timeout leading 21-13.  Samford regained its ten-point lead, serving for set point up 24-14, and Reesor knocked a kill in to give Samford the 25-14 set two win and even the match at 1-1.  
 
Elon held the early momentum in set three, moving up 6-3 before Samford answered back with four in a row to take the lead, 7-6.  The teams traded the lead in the middle portion of the set until Samford started to pull away, moving up 17-13 as Elon took a timeout.  Samford maintained the four-point lead all the way to set point, serving up 24-20.  Elon scored two but Samford ultimately won the set, 25-22, to move up 2-1 in the match.
 
Samford got off to a 2-0 start in set four and held that margin for most of the set.  Up 18-16, a kill and a block by Hutchinson put Samford up 20-16 forcing Elon to take a timeout.  Samford would score two more out of the break, moving up 22-16, and reached match point up by six, 24-18.  A service error on match point extended the set for Elon but a kill by Murphy on the subsequent point gave Samford the 25-19 win and the 3-1 match victory.
 
Next weekend, 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 (14-5, 5-0 SoCon) on Friday, Oct. 12 at 7:30 p.m. ET.  The following day, Samford will face The Citadel (2-18, 0-6 SoCon) as the two Bulldogs face off at 7 p.m. ET.