COMPLETE NOTES (PDF)

'DOGS TO CLOSE OUT REGULAR SEASON AT HOME
Samford (19-10, 10-4 SoCon) closes out the 2013 regular season with a pair of home matches this weekend.  The Bulldogs will square off against Furman on Friday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. CT and Wofford on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. CT.

FREE STREAMING VIDEO ON SAMFORD SPORTS TV
Samford's matches this weekend will be live streamed for FREE through Samford Sports TV.  Head to samfordsports.com/showcase and click on the event.  Live stats are also available by heading to samfordsports.com/volleyball and clicking the link on the schedule page.  Fans can also check Twitter @SamfordVB for updates all season!

FRIDAY IS SENIOR NIGHT
Friday's match against Furman will be Samford's senior night, where the Bulldogs will honor the careers of its four seniors: Taylor Chao, Katie Murphy, Stephanie Palmer and Taylor Palmer.

SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Furman (15-10, 11-3 SoCon) - Heading into the final weekend of the season, the Paladins are tied at the top of the conference rankings with Georgia Southern, holding the tie-breaker over the Eagles after defeating them in both meetings this season.  After losing back-to-back matches against Elon and UNCG, Furman has since won four straight, including payback wins over Elon and UNCG last weekend.  Their balanced attack is led by senior Christina Dorismond with 295 kills, while junior Andrea Fisher is close behind with 277.  Along with Dorismond, freshman Ashton Gregory completes a potent pair of middles, as Gregory leads the team with 98 blocks.

Wofford (12-17, 6-8 SoCon) - The Terriers will be looking to close out the season strongly, as they are on the cusp of a SoCon Tournament berth, holding a tie-breaker over Davidson in eighth place.  It would be Wofford's first SoCon Tournament appearance since 2006.  To do so, Wofford will be looking to avenge losses against Samford and Chattanooga from earlier this season.  For nearly the entire season, Wofford has led the SoCon in service aces, totaling 170 with an average of 1.53 per set, led by junior Taylor Baird with 37 (0.34/set).  Baird also leads the team with 360 kills while senior Amanda Liquori is close behind with 355.

ALL-TIME VERSUS WEEKEND OPPONENTS
Samford is 4-11 all-time against Furman, but an even 4-4 against the Paladins in SoCon play.  Furman won the first meeting this season, defeating the Bulldogs 3-1 in Greenville.  Two of the eight conference matchups have come in postseason play, with Furman knocking out the Bulldogs in 2008 before Samford got revenge in 2011 with a postseason sweep.

With a 3-1 win earlier this season, Samford is now a perfect 6-0 all-time against Wofford.  The Terriers haven't been an easy opponent for the Bulldogs lately however, as they have avoided a sweep in the last two meetings after being swept in the 2010 and 2011 seasons.  Last season, the Bulldogs had to come back from a 2-0 match deficit to defeat Wofford on the road, thanks in large part to a school-record 33 kills by Michaela Reesor.

CARTER NAMED DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
After helping leading the defense to two hard-fought road wins this weekend, junior libero Chelsi Carter was named the SoCon Defensive Player of the Week, announced by the conference office Monday.
 
Carter led the Bulldogs with 50 digs, including a career-high 31 against Western Carolina in Saturday's win.  She is one of only four Bulldogs to appear in all 29 matches this year.
 
Her impressive totals over the weekend vaulted her all the way to fourth all-time in Samford's single-season records, as she currently has 454 digs so far this season.  This brings her career total to 1,082 in less than three seasons, which also ranks fourth all-time at Samford.  This season, she also leads the team with 32 service aces, which puts her just 14 shy of cracking the career top ten at Samford.
 
This is the first Defensive Player of the Week award Samford has won so far this season and the fourth weekly award overall.  This is the second-consecutive week a Bulldog has made the weekly award list, as Michaela Reesor was named the Offensive Player of the Week last week.

RECORD WATCH
With the 2013 season in its closing stages, there are still multiple Bulldogs that are moving up the rankings, some for the first time this season.

Michaela Reesor has 415 kills so far this season, which puts her only ten kills shy of cracking the single-season top ten for the second time in her career.  Her previous single-season best, 439 from last season, ranks fifth all-time. She is also only 30 attacks shy of moving into the single-season top ten for the second time.  In the career kills list, Reesor currently ranks eighth with 1,112, only six shy of seventh place and 42 shy of sixth place.

Katie Murphy's .411 hitting percentage this season currently ranks third all-time at Samford as only the third ever .400 season in Samford history.  Her 2011 total of .427 ranks second while Lauren Hutchinson's 2011 total of .428 is the school record.  Murphy's career hitting percentage of .380 is currently the best in Samford history, holding a slight lead over Lauren Hutchinson's career total of .377.  Murphy is also only 23 kills shy of moving up to fifth all-time in career kills at Samford.

Chelsi Carter continues to climb the single-season digs list at Samford, as she currently sits in fourth with 454 this season.  That puts her 78 digs shy of Alexis Bauer's 532 digs from 2011.  Carter's career total of 1,082 digs ranks fourth all-time in only her junior season.  She is also on the cusp of the career aces list, only 14 shy of 10th all-time.

Stephanie Palmer is also closing in on the single-season assists rankings, as she is only 110 shy of 10th all-time.  This season, she is averaging just over 11 assists per set.
 
LAST TIME OUT: SAMFORD EARNS ROAD WINS OVER APPALACHIAN STATE AND WESTERN CAROLINA
Last weekend, Samford went 2-0 on the road with four-set wins over Appalachian State and Western Carolina.

Thanks to a well-rounded performance, including double-doubles by Gabbi Greenwald and Stephanie Palmer, Samford was able to remain resilient and earn a 3-1 road win over Appalachian State Friday night.
 
With the win, Samford has now won the past four-straight meetings against Appalachian State, bringing the all-time series record to 7-5 in the Bulldogs' favor.  Greenwald earned her third double-double of the season with 10 kills and a career-high 14 digs, which was second on the team only trailing Chelsi Carter's 19 digs.  Palmer earned her team-leading fourth double-double of the season, tallying 51 assists and 12 digs.  For the third-straight match, Michaela Reesor earned 20 kills, finishing just two digs shy of a double-double.  The Bulldogs also played tall at the net, earning nine team blocks while Taylor Palmer led the team with five (two solo, three assisted).

With four Bulldogs earning double-digit kills, a potent Samford offense powered past Western Carolina on the road Saturday night to cap an undefeated weekend.
 
After suffering its largest margin of defeat in SoCon play this season in the opening set, Samford rallied with strong performances over Western Carolina for three-straight sets to earn the 3-1 victory.  Samford hit -.057 in the opening set before rebounding to hit a combined .338 in the remaining three sets.
 
For the fourth-straight match, Michaela Reesor earned 20 kills, leading all players.  This brings her season total to 415, only 24 shy of her single-season best of 439, set last season.  Stephanie Palmer earned her fifth double-double of the season, also her second straight, with a season-best 57 assists and 17 digs.  Erin Bognar also earned a double-double, her third of the season, with 16 kills and 10 digs.  On defense, Chelsi Carter led all players with 31 digs, a new career-best for the Samford junior.

UP NEXT
Next weekend, Samford will head to Greenville, S.C., for the 2013 SoCon Championships, hosted by Furman.  Once tournament seedings and matchups are announced, action will begin on Friday, Nov. 22, continue with the semifinals on Saturday, Nov. 23 and culminate with the championship match on Sunday, Nov. 24.