Box Score ATLANTA, Ga. ---- Samford earned a hard-fought 3-0 sweep over Mercer Saturday, including a long third set that capped an undefeated weekend at the Georgia State Invitational in Atlanta.
 
The 33-31 third set was Samford's (5-5) longest since 2007, the longest under Head Coach Derek Schroeder.  The win gives the Bulldogs a perfect 3-0 mark on the weekend, as they only dropped one set over three matches.  Three Bulldogs earned double-digit kills, led by Michaela Reesor with 15 on 34 swings.  Casey Garvey earned her highest assists total in a three-set match this season with 44.
 
Mercer (2-5) was Samford's fourth-straight opponent to hit under .200, as they earned a .189 clip.  Jamie Duffy led their offense with 10 kills and a .320 hitting percentage.
 
The Bulldog offense got off to a hot start as they earned eight quick kills, paired with a Mercer attack error, to jump ahead 9-3 and force a Mercer timeout.  Samford extended its lead with a 9-5 run as they doubled up the Bears, 18-9.  The Bulldogs quickly reached set point, up 24-16, and Michaela Reesor sealed it with a kill to give Samford the 25-16 set win.
 
Play was much more even to begin the second frame, as the teams found themselves tied at 9-9.  The Bears started to pull away, leading 12-10, but the Bulldogs came right back and tied it at 12-12.  Samford built a two-point lead, up 18-16, and back-to-back kills by Reesor and Neisler stretched it to 20-16 as Mercer took a timeout.  The Bears threatened late, drawing within one down 22-21, but the Bulldogs closed it with a 3-1 run to take the set, 25-22, and move up 2-0 in the match.
 
The teams traded the small lead back-and-forth the open the third frame when up 9-8, Mercer scored three in a row to extend the Bears' lead to 12-8.  With Mercer leading 15-11, Samford scored three in a row to draw back within one, down 15-14, but the Bears moved the lead back up to four points as Samford took a timeout trailing 20-16.  The Bulldogs fought back and tied the set at 21-21, forcing Mercer to take a timeout.  The Bears reached set point first, up 24-23, and Samford took a timeout to regroup.  Samford staved off the Mercer attack as each team battled back-and-forth for set point.  Tied at 31-31, Katie Murphy set the Bulldogs up for match point and a Mercer attack error ended the extended set in Samford's favor, 33-31, to conclude the 3-0 sweep.
 
Next up, Samford takes a quick mid-week trip to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to face the Alabama Crimson Tide on Tuesday, Sept. 11 at 7 p.m. CT.  The following weekend Samford hosts the Bulldog Invitational as they welcome Alcorn State, Tennessee Tech and Gardner-Webb for two days of matches beginning on Friday, Sept. 14.