FULL WEEKEND NOTES (PDF)

'DOGS HIT THE ROAD FOR MOUNTAINEERS, CATAMOUNTS
This weekend, Samford (17-10, 8-4 SoCon) takes its final road trip of the 2013 regular season, facing Appalachian State and Western Carolina.  The Bulldogs square off with the Mountianeers on Friday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. ET and the Catamounts on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 6 p.m. ET.

SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Appalachian State (16-10, 7-5 SoCon) - The Mountaineers currently sit in fourth place in the SoCon, thanks in large part to their recent five-match win streak.  Since a five-set loss to Georgia Southern on Oct. 18, Appalachian State has swept The Citadel, Western Carolina, Elon and UNCG in addition to defeating Davidson on the road in five sets.  Their success has come in large part thanks to the defensive play of sophomore Meghan Mahoney, who has won back-to-back SoCon Defensive Player of the Week awards.  Mahoney leads the team and ranks second in the SoCon in digs with 534, averaging 5.56 per set, while sophomore Emily Corrigan has been their main offensive weapon, taking nearly a third of the offense's swings with a team-leading 349 kills.

Western Carolina (16-10, 6-6 SoCon) - The Catamounts have dropped to an even .500 in conference play as they are in the midst of a three-match losing skid, falling to Appalachian State, UNCG and Elon.  Their record places them seventh in the conference with matches yet to play against two of the top three teams in the SoCon.  If they wish to stay in contention for the SoCon Tournament, they will need their conference-leading defense to continue to play well.  The Catamounts lead the SoCon in digs (1,710, 18.19/set) and blocks (219.0, 2.33/set), with Morgan Cochran (574, 6.11/set) and Addy George (116.0, 1.29/set), leading the SoCon in those respective categories as well.

ALL-TIME VERSUS WEEKEND OPPONENTS
Samford is 13-5 all-time against Western Carolina and 10-1 against them as SoCon opponents.  Earlier this season, the Catamounts earned their first-ever SoCon win over the Bulldogs, defeating Samford in five sets in Birmingham.  It was the first SoCon match between the teams to stretch to five sets and Western Carolina's first victory over Samford since 2005.

Samford gained the edge in the all-time series over Appalachian State, 6-5, with a thrilling five-set victory earlier this season at the Pete Hanna Center.  The Bulldogs have won the past three-straight meetings, though they are 2-3 all-time against the Mountaineers in Boone, N.C.

REESOR NAMED OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
After leading an efficient Samford offense to a pair of wins last weekend, junior Michaela Reesor has been named the SoCon Offensive Player of the Week, announced by the conference office Monday.

Reesor led the Bulldogs with 40 kills, earning 20 in each of last weekend's matches.  It was the first time any Samford player had earned 20 kills in a match since early October and her 20 kills against Davidson is the only time any Samford player has earned that total in a three-set match this year.  Her .457 hitting percentage against the Wildcats is her highest clip against any SoCon opponent so far this season, as she has hit at least .375 in three of her last five matches.
 
So far this season, Reesor leads the conference in kills, both overall (375) and in conference play (195).  She is on pace to finish the regular season with 430 kills, which would rank ninth all-time at Samford, though she would only be nine shy of her own single-season best of 439, set in 2012.  Earlier this season, she became the 11th player in Samford history to surpass 1,000 career kills and has already moved into 10th all-time with 1,072 career kills and ninth in career attempts with 2,693.

MURPHY NAMED OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE MONTH
After helping lead the Bulldogs to five wins in the month of October, senior Katie Murphy was named the SoCon Offensive Player of the Month, announced by the conference office Wednesday.
 
During the month's eight matches, she earned a stellar .398 hitting percentage, committing only 25 errors in 221 attacks with 113 kills.  She also led the team in blocks, totaling 33 (8 solo, 25 assisted) for an average of 1.10 per set.  She hit at least .400 in six of the month's eight matches and earned double-digit kills in all but one match over the month.  In the first weekend of the month, Murphy earned a season-high 20 kills against Western Carolina on Oct. 4 and, two weeks later, earned a season-high .733 attack percentage against Elon on Oct. 18.  She tied a season-high seven blocks twice in October, first against Davidson on Oct. 12 and again against Georgia Southern on Oct. 26.
 
To date, the Sterling Heights, Mich., native owns a .420 hitting percentage this season, which leads the SoCon and ranks 17th nationally.  Among the top 20 nationally, only two others have more kills (292) or attacks (553) than Murphy.  Her .420 season percentage ranks third all-time at Samford while her career percentage of .381 is the top mark all-time in Samford history.  She also currently ranks fifth all-time in career kills (1,193), as she was the 10th player in Samford history to reach 1,000 career kills.
 
LAST TIME OUT: 'DOGS EARN HOME WINS OVER CHATTANOOGA AND DAVIDSON
Last weekend, Samford earned a pair of impressive home wins, defeating Chattanooga in four sets Friday night before sweeping Davidson on Saturday.

After splitting two hard-fought sets to open Friday's match against Chattanooga, Samford won more convincingly in sets three and four to win the match, 3-1.
 
Samford avenged its loss to Chattanooga from earlier this season as the Bulldogs hit .273 as a team with nearly twice as many kills as the Mocs.  Michaela Reesor led all players with 20 kills while Katie Murphy anchored the middle with 15 kills, a .500 hitting percentage and four blocks.  Chelsi Carter was a weapon at the service line, scoring a career-best five service aces while Stephanie Palmer added 15 digs and 53 assists for her team-leading third double-double of the season.  Erin Bognar also saw her first play time since suffering an injury in the Sept. 28 match at Furman, making key plays at the outside and on defense and serve receive.

Samford Volleyball capped an undefeated weekend Saturday afternoon, sweeping Davidson for the Bulldogs' eighth conference win of the season.
 
The Samford offense was firing on all cylinders against Davidson, tallying 52 kills and only 14 errors for a .392 hitting percentage, their second-highest total in conference play this season.  For the second-straight match, Michaela Reesor scored 20 kills while hitting a stellar .457, her best total in conference play this season.  Katie Murphy continued to hit efficiently, earning a .625 clip to bring her season total to .420, which is just shy of her previous single-season high of .427.
 
The Bulldogs earned 36 digs, their highest total in a three-set match this season, and added 50 assists, making it three-straight matches with at least 50 assists.  Chelsi Carter also earned 10 digs on Saturday, bringing her season total to 404, which vaults her to eighth place in the single-season record books at Samford.  She is now only 12 digs shy of moving up to fifth all-time.

UP NEXT
Next weekend, Samford concludes the 2013 regular season with a pair of home matches, facing Furman on Friday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. CT and Wofford on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. CT.

Friday's match against Furman will be Senior Night, as the team will celebrate the career's of Samford's four seniors: Taylor Chao, Katie Murphy, Stephanie Palmer and Taylor Palmer.