Box Score LOUISVILLE, Ky. ---- Samford concluded action at the Cardinal Classic Saturday facing the host team, Louisville, in the marquee matchup.  The teams split the first two sets but the home team would hold off the Samford attack in the final two sets to take the 3-1 win.
 
Samford (1-5) held the 54-50 edge in kills, led by Elizabeth Neisler with 17.  Neisler's strong performance all weekend, a total of 37 kills, earned her a spot on the Cardinal Classic All-Tournament Team.  Katie Murphy was also strong offensively, tallying 12 kills with a .435 clip.  Alexis Bauer led the team in digs with 18 while Taylor Chao was close behind with 17, a single-game best for the redshirt junior.  Louisville (6-1) was led by their Preseason Big East Player of the Year, Lola Arslanbekova, who earned 22 kills and a .429 hitting percentage.
 
The Samford offense got off to a good start in the first set, with the Bulldogs building a 7-2 lead thanks in part to three kills by Neisler.  Samford maintained the five-point margin through the middle portion of the set, leading 15-10 as Louisville took a timeout.  The Cardinal came out of the break with three quick consecutive points, forcing the Bulldogs to take a timeout of their own.  Louisville continued the comeback, eventually tying the set at 15-15.  Up 21-20, a kill by Lauren Hutchinson forced a Louisville timeout, but the Cardinal would charge back with five unanswered points to come back and win the set, 25-22.
 
Louisville earned the first point of set two and the teams would trade points evenly in the early going.  Louisville began to widen the gap a bit, pulling ahead 16-12 to force a Bulldog timeout. The Cardinal came out of the break with a 5-2 run as Samford took yet another timeout.  Louisville earned possession up 24-14 and looked to end the set.  Samford got two points off two attack errors but the Cardinal's Carly Sahagian earned a kill on the next rally to give them the 25-15 win.
 
The teams traded points back-and-forth for the majority of the third frame.  Louisville's largest lead of the set was only three points, as Samford consistently fought toe-to-toe with the host team.  Samford would tie the match up at 18-18 and then take the 19-18 lead off a Louisville ball-handling error, forcing the home team to take a timeout.  Down 22-21, Murphy fired in back-to-back kills to give Samford the 23-22 edge and force a late Cardinal timeout.  A kill by Neisler would give Samford possession on set point and another kill by Neisler would seal the 25-22 victory.
 
The home team jumped ahead to a 10-5 lead as Samford looked to regroup with a timeout.  Leading by the same margin later, up 12-7, a kill and a Samford attack error stretched their lead to seven points.  Louisville would hold off the Samford attack as they maintained the score gap, reaching the 20-point mark with a seven-point lead, up 20-13.  The Bulldogs would only score two more point for the remainder of the set, as the host team powered through to a 25-15 set-four victory and a 3-1 match victory.
 
Samford will play its first home match of the 2012 season on Wednesday, Sept. 5, hosting North Alabama at 7 p.m. CT.  The following weekend, Samford heads to Atlanta, Ga., for the Georgia State Tournament where they will face Georgia State on Friday, Sept. 7 (7 p.m. ET) and then South Alabama (10 a.m. ET) and Mercer (5 p.m. ET) the following day.