FULL WEEKEND NOTES (PDF)

VOLLEYBALL TO BEGIN SECOND HALF OF SOCON SEASON
Samford (14-9, 5-3 SoCon) begins the second half of the SoCon season with a pair of road matches, facing The Citadel on Friday, Oct. 25 at 6 p.m. ET and Georgia Southern on Saturday, Oct. 26 at 2 p.m. ET.

SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
The Citadel (5-19, 0-8 SoCon) - The Bulldogs have struggled so far this season, earning just five wins while going winless in the first half of the SoCon season.  They recently snapped a six-match losing streak with a home sweep over Savannah State last Tuesday, but fell against Western Carolina and Appalachian State over the weekend.  They have now lost 26-straight conference matchups, with their last SoCon win coming against Wofford near the end of the 2011 season.  Junior Ise d'Angelo leads The Citadel in kills (136) while fellow junior Lauren Hurt leads the team with 89 blocks, which ranks third in the conference.

Georgia Southern (19-3, 7-1 SoCon) - At the halfway point of the conference season, the Eagles are in first place with only one conference loss, a five-set thriller against Furman at home on Oct. 4.  Georgia Southern ranks in top three in every statistical category in the conference, leading the league in opponent hitting percentage at .152.  September SoCon Offensive Player of the Month Jamie DeRatt is one of the most potent weapons in the conference, as she leads the team with 273 kills, trailing only Samford's Michaela Reesor for the conference lead.  Sophomore Katalin Minnerly leads the conference in assists (849, 11.17/set) while sophomore Crysten Curry leads the team and is second in the SoCon in blocks (85, 1.20/set).

ALL-TIME VERSUS WEEKEND OPPONENTS
Samford and The Citadel have played each other five times since becoming conference opponents in 2008, with Samford winning all five contests.  Samford swept The Citadel in all but one of those contests, as The Citadel fell 3-1 in 2009.  This will be the first time that Samford has played The Citadel on the road in back-to-back seaons, with the teams traditionally alternating between home and away contests.

Samford holds a 9-5 edge all-time over Georgia Southern, but the teams are evenly matched as SoCon opponents, splitting six contests.  Two of Samford's three conference wins in the series have come on the road, including their most-recent win over the Eagles in 2011.  Last season in Birmingham, the Eagles came back from a 2-0 match deficit to win three-straight sets, stunning the Bulldogs with a heartbreaking 3-2 loss.

GREENWALD NAMED SOCON FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
 After helping lead the team to two sweeps last weekend, freshman Gabbi Greenwald has been named the SoCon Freshman of the Week, announced by the conference office Monday.
 
Last weekend, Greenwald was second on the team in kills (25) and blocks (4) and was third in hitting percentage (.440).  Greenwald earned 12 kills against Elon and tied a career high with 13 kills against UNCG, matching her total from the Oct. 4 match against Western Carolina that went five sets.  Her .478 hitting percentage against UNCG is her highest total in SoCon play this season and is the second-highest total of any Samford player in SoCon play, only trailing Katie Murphy's .733 clip against Elon on Friday.
 
So far this season, Greenwald has played in 18 matches, starting 14 including all eight conference matches.  She has 79 kills, 21 block assists and 11 service aces in SoCon play this season.  Over Samford's three most-recent wins over Davidson, Elon and UNCG, the Louisville, Ky., native has a .333 hitting percentage and 37 of the team's 163 kills.
 
This is Samford's second Freshman of the Week honor this season, as Erin Bognar won it in the opening week of the season.  Furman's Ashton Gregory was named the SoCon Offensive Player of the Week while fellow Paladin Elle Ross was named the SoCon Defensive Player of the Week.

REESOR NAMED SOCON STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
For her excellent performances on the court and in the classroom, Samford junior Michaela Reesor was named the Southern Conference's Student-Athlete of the Week, announced by the league office Wednesday afternoon.
 
Reesor helped lead the Bulldogs to a 2-0 weekend at home thanks to two dominant performances at the pins.  She led the team with 30 kills, earning 15 kills in each match.  Her .375 attack percentage against UNCG Saturday and her .294 attack percentage against Elon Friday are her two best against any SoCon opponent so far this season.
 
She reached an even more prestigious milestone during Saturday' s match against UNCG, becoming the 11th player in Samford history to surpass 1,000 career kills.  She is the second Bulldog this season to surpass 1,000 career kills, joining senior Katie Murphy who did so on Sept. 14 at Kennesaw State.
 
In the classroom, Reesor holds a 3.88 GPA in journalism and mass communication with a concentration in public relations and a minor in marketing.  She is the second Samford student-athlete to earn the weekly award this season, as senior quarterback Andy Summerlin won on Oct. 2 after football's win over Western Carolina.
 
LAST TIME OUT: SAMFORD SWEEPS ELON AND UNCG
Last weekend, Samford played its first 2-0 conference weekend of the season, earning convincing home sweeps over Elon and UNCG.

On Friday, Samford powered past Elon thanks to a very efficient offense as the Bulldogs hit .371 as a team.  Leading that effort was Katie Murphy, with 12 kills and only one error on 15 swings for a sensational .733 hitting percentage.  Three Bulldogs earned double-digit kills, with Michaela Reesor leading all players with 15 while Murphy and Greenwald trailed close behind with 12 each.  Chelsi Carter led all players with 14 digs while Stephanie Palmer was only two digs shy of a double-double, finishing with eight digs and 39 assists.

On an emotional Saturday 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.
 
Samford wore commemorative orange jerseys, 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 Friday's total of .371 as the best against any SoCon team so far this season.  UNCG 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.

UP NEXT
Next weekend, Samford returns home to play Chattanooga on Friday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. CT and Davidson on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 2 p.m. CT.  Earlier this season, Samford fell at Chattanooga, 0-3, before rebounding with a 3-1 win at Davidson.