Box Score CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ---- Samford volleyball continued its hot streak Friday, sweeping Chattanooga 3-0 in the Bulldogs' first SoCon road contest of the season.
 
Samford (11-6, 3-0 SoCon) hit .376 as a team and were again led by SoCon Offensive Player of the Week Lauren Hutchinson, who tallied a season-high 16 kills on 27 swings with only one error for a .556 average.  Fellow middle blocker Katie Murphy also had a good offensive game with ten kills and a .588 clip.  Casey Garvey had more assists than the entire Chattanooga team, tallying 35 while Alexis Bauer led the defensive effort with 14 digs.
 
“We wanted to create an environment on our side of the net and run our offense through the middle of the court,” said Head Coach Derek Schroeder.  “I was very happy that we succeeded in both those goals.”
 
Chattanooga (7-11, 1-2 SoCon) struggled offensively, hitting .056 with 27 kills and 21 errors.  SoCon Defensive Player of the Week Paula Passmore led all players with 15 digs while Sarah Batterton was their offensive leader with eight kills on 16 swings.
 
Garvey earned the first point of the match off a service ace that caromed off the top of the net and the momentum stayed in the Bulldogs' favor, as Samford built a 9-3 lead to force an early timeout by the Mocs.  Samford continued to roll out of the break, going on a 10-3 run to move ahead by 13 points, 19-6.  The Bulldogs reached set point, up 24-9, but Chattanooga hit a hard attack down the left line to gain possession and end the set.  The rally was short-lived however, as a Chattanooga blocking error immediately after gave Samford the 25-10 set one win.
 
The Mocs opened with possession in set two and kept it close, as the Bulldogs' lead steadily narrowed until Chattanooga tied it at 9-9.  The Mocs took their first lead of the match, up 13-12, but Samford quickly regained the lead as Murphy slammed down an overpass at the net to put the Bulldogs up 16-14, forcing Chattanooga to regroup with a timeout.  Samford extended its lead with a quick 4-1 run as the Mocs burned yet another timeout, now trailing 20-15.  The Mocs would earn two points late in the set but the deficit would prove too large as Samford eventually won, 25-17 to move up 2-0 in the match.
 
Set three was another close contest as neither team was able to build more than a two-point lead early.  Samford earned its largest lead of the set so far, up 12-9 off a kill by Elizabeth Neisler, as Chattanooga took a timeout.  The Bulldogs maintained the slim lead, eventually stretching it to five, up 20-15, as the Mocs took a timeout.  Samford reached match point, up 24-17, allowing the Mocs to score one point but ultimately sealing it with a hard kill by Hutchinson to make it 25-18, securing the 3-0 match sweep.
 
Samford returns home tomorrow as they host the Furman Paladins (12-4, 1-1 SoCon) at 6 p.m. CT in the Pete Hanna Center.