Box Score BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- Samford continued its strong weekend on Saturday, as the Bulldogs earned their second conference win with a 3-0 sweep over Appalachian State.
 
“It's nice to see our offense clicking,” said Head Coach Derek Schroeder.  “We're an offense-first team.  We played great with Katie Murphy coming off an injury and Lauren Hutchinson playing as well as she did to open up the pins.
 
“We like to flow on offense and I feel like after this first weekend of SoCon play we're starting to find a rhythm.”
 
It is Samford's (10-6, 2-0 SoCon) first win over Appalachian State (4-12, 0-2 SoCon) since 2009 and marks the 50th career conference win for Schroeder since joining Samford in 2008.  Samford had three players earn double-digit kills, with Hutchinson leading the team with 12 on 15 swings with only one error.  Murphy and Michaela Reesor earned ten kills each, while Alexis Bauer and Chelsi Carter earned double-digit digs with 16 and 11, respectively.
 
The Mountaineer offense was led by Emily Corrigan with 13 kills while Lauren Brown paced the offense with 27 assists and Courtney Rhein led the defense with 14 digs.
 
Samford got off to a fast start in the opening frame as they built an 8-3 lead to force Appalachian State into taking an early timeout.  The Mountaineers began to narrow the gap, drawing within two, down 15-13.  Appalachian Sate eventually drew within one, as a kill by Lindsey Sauls made it 18-17 with Samford regrouping with a timeout.  The Mountaineers would keep it close down the stretch but Samford ended up with the three-point edge to take the set, 25-22.
 
The Bulldog offense was clicking again early in set two with Samford building a 9-3 lead and maintaining that gap as they eventually pulled ahead 14-8.  The teams traded points evenly until, up 18-12, Samford grabbed four quick points to build a nine-point lead, up 22-13.  Samford reached set point off a Carter service ace but a Samford attack error extended the set.  Reesor ended it quickly on the next rally as a kill gave the Bulldogs the 25-14 win.
 
The teams traded points evenly to begin the third frame with Samford beginning to creep forward thanks to a 4-1 run to move up 13-9.  Later, up 15-12, Samford used another 4-1 run to further widen the gap, 19-13.  The Mountaineers would only score two points for the remainder of the match, as the Bulldogs cruised to a 25-15 win to complete the 3-0 sweep.
 
Samford continues conference play next weekend with one road and one home match.  The Bulldogs make a quick trip north to Chattanooga as they face the Mocs on Friday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. ET.  Samford returns home the next day as they host the Furman Paladins on Saturday, Sept. 29 with a 6 p.m. CT start time.