Box Score BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- A resilient Chattanooga squad pulled off a huge upset over Samford Wednesday night, earning their first home win over the Bulldogs since 1999 in sweeping fashion.
 
The loss is just Samford's (11-9, 2-3 SoCon) second to Chattanooga (3-17, 2-3 SoCon) since joining the SoCon in 2008.  Michaela Reesor led all players with 14 kills, but 21 Bulldog attack errors and a team .140 hitting percentage gave Chattanooga plenty of chances on offense.  Erika Pifer, making her first career start at setter, led all players with 29 assists while Samford had three players with double-digit digs, led by Chelsi Carter with 18.
 
Injuries have limited multiple key players for the Bulldogs, but Head Coach Derek Schroeder refuses to use that as an excuse.
 
"We never used our injuries as an excuse before and we aren't going to start now," said Schroeder.  "We just didn't make the plays we needed to make.  It was a match that we could have won but we just failed to execute."
 
Chattanooga fought to hold onto a slim lead early in set one but, tied at 6-6, a kill by Taylor Palmer followed by a Palmer block gave Samford an 8-6 lead.  The Mocs rallied to retake the lead, scoring four unanswered to pull ahead 11-8 as the Bulldogs took a timeout.  Samford managed to tie it back up at 12-12 courtesy of a Gabbi Greenwald ace but another run by the Mocs put the home team up 17-13 as Samford used its second timeout of the set.  Chattanooga held on to the four-point lead, reaching set point up 24-20.  After a kill by Greenwald made it 24-21 and gave Samford possession, Chattanooga took a timeout.  The Bulldogs continued to rally after the break, eventually tying the set back up at 24-24.  Chattanooga ended up closing out the match after a Bulldog block error made it 27-26 and a Chattanooga block earned the Mocs a hard-fought 28-26 win in the opening set.
 
Set two was another neck-and-neck battle, as neither team could build more than a two-point lead until the Mocs hit the midway point up 12-9.  Samford regained possession and erased Chattanooga's lead off a service ace by Carter that tied the set at 14-14.  Momentum swung back-and-forth with Chattanooga entering the closing stretch with a 19-17 lead as Samford called a timeout.  Samford closed within one, down 21-20, after a Mattie Newson serve tipped off the top of the net and dropped down for an ace as Chattanooga called a timeout.  Chattanooga hit set point, 24-22, and Samford managed to regain possession off a kill by Murphy but a Chattanooga kill by Allie Davenport gave the Mocs the slim 25-23 victory to take a 2-0 match lead into the break.
 
Chattanooga built the early 7-3 lead in set three, but the Bulldogs looked to start a mighty comeback, scoring six unanswered to pull ahead 9-7.  The momentum quickly shifted back in the home team's favor, as the Mocs used an 8-3 run to pull ahead 15-12 as Samford took a frustrated timeout.  Chattanooga continued to extend its lead, eventually winning set three 25-17 to pull off the upset sweep.
 
Samford concludes its weekend with a road match at Davidson (11-7, 2-2 SoCon) on Saturday, Oct. 12 at 6 p.m. ET.