Box Score BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- On an emotional night at the Pete Hanna Center where Samford Volleyball paid tribute to their former teammate, Caroline Neisler, Samford played one of its best matches of the season in a solid 3-0 win over UNCG.
 
"I'm really proud of our team's resiliency and ability to control our emotions," said Derek Schroeder.  "We have been full-go in practice and we are starting to make big plays at big moments during matches.  Those are the kinds of things that championships teams do."
 
Samford (14-9, 5-3 SoCon) wore commemorative orange jerseys tonight, the color for Leukemia awareness to honor Neisler's memory.  The jerseys were auctioned off following the match, with all proceeds from the auction and other donations going to the Leukemia and Lymphoma society and local hospitals.
 
Samford harnessed its emotions towards an incredible .434 team hitting percentage, beating last night's total of .371 as the best against any SoCon team so far this season.  UNCG (11-10, 4-4 SoCon) hit a respectable .322 as a team, but could not contend up front as the Bulldogs outpaced them in kills (53-36) and blocks (5-2).
 
In only her junior season, Michaela Reesor became the 11th player in Samford history to surpass 1,000 career kills, finishing the night with 15 and a career total of 1,003.  She is the second Samford player to break the career milestone this season, following Katie Murphy on Sept. 14 at Kennesaw State.  Murphy earned 12 kills and three blocks in tonight's match while freshman Gabbi Greenwald had a career night with 13 kills and a .478 hitting percentage.
 
UNCG was briefly out in front in set one, 5-4, before the Bulldogs quickly moved it back in their favor thanks to a 4-0 run to move ahead 8-5.  UNCG eventually closed the gap, drawing within one trailing 9-8, but Samford answered right back with five-consecutive points forcing the Spartans to take a timeout down 14-8.  The teams traded points back and forth until a 4-0 run by Samford gave them a double-digit lead, 23-13, as the Bulldogs eventually won the set by the same margin, 25-15.
 
Samford started set two on a roll, moving ahead 6-0 before UNCG finally scored its first point of the frame to make it 6-1.  Samford would move up seven points, 13-6, but the Spartans would make it a four-point game with a 4-1 run as the Bulldogs took a timeout leading 14-10.  UNCG would take a timeout soon after, trailing 17-12, but the Bulldogs continued to score, eventually winning set two 25-17.
 
Unlike the previous two sets, the third would be a very close affair early on.  Tied at 9-9, Samford would score three in a row to earn its largest lead of the set, 12-9, at the midway point.  UNCG battled to tie it back up at 15-15 and eventually took the lead, 17-16.  Samford moved ahead 19-18 and would not give up the lead for the remainder of the match, although the Spartans kept it close.  Tied at 22-22, a kill by Taylor Palmer and an ace by Stephanie Palmer set up match point with UNCG taking a timeout looking to strategize a way to force a fourth set.  UNCG scored a point following the break to stave off elimination but a kill by Murphy ended it as the Bulldogs won 25-23 to complete the sweep.
 
Next weekend, Samford is back on the road for another pair of SoCon matches.  On Friday, Oct. 25, Samford will play The Citadel at 6 p.m. ET before facing off against Georgia Southern on Saturday, Oct. 26 at 2 p.m. ET.