Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 COLUMBIA, Mo. ---- Samford bounced back from its Friday loss with a pair of sweeps on Saturday, downing SEMO and Towson to close out action at the Mizzou Classic.
 
Samford (9-6) wrapped up the pre-conference portion of the schedule with some close matches against SEMO (7-6) and Towson (5-12).  Samford hit a combined .307 on the day while their opponents only hit .159.  Michaela Reesor led the Bulldog attack with double-digit kills in each match, totaling 28 on the day, while Katie Murphy anchored the middle with a phenomenal .524 hitting percentage and nine blocks.  Erin Bognar showed her versatility at the outside, as she was second on the team in kills (19) while also leading the team in digs (20).  Stephanie Palmer guided the offense with 71 assists on the day, which is more than the Bulldogs' two opponents combined.
 
MATCH ONE: SAMFORD 3, SEMO 0
 
Saturday's opener was a close contest between the Bulldogs and the Redhawks, but an efficient Samford offense and balanced defense made the difference as the Bulldogs earned the 3-0 win.  Reesor led the Bulldogs with 16 kills, tying her season high though this is the first time she has done so in three sets.  Backing her up was Bognar, who hit a stellar .464 with 14 kills to go along with 10 digs for her first career double-double.  Murphy hit above .400 for the fifth-straight match, hitting .467 with eight kills and three blocks.
 
The teams battled back and forth early, with SEMO slowly building a lead to move up 10-6.  The Bulldogs fought back multiple times within one point but could not tie the game back up, eventually taking a timeout trailing 17-15.  The break gave the Bulldogs a chance to regroup, as they came right out to tie it at 17-17 and take the lead, forcing SEMO to take a timeout with the Bulldogs in front 21-19.  The Redhawks would burn another timeout with the Bulldogs nearing the finish line, up 23-21.  Samford reached set point, 24-21, and SEMO managed to grab a point but a kill by Murphy sealed it for the Bulldogs as they won, 25-22.
 
SEMO had the early momentum in set two, leading 8-3.  The lead was short-lived however, as the Bulldogs retook the lead off a dominant 7-1 run, including a pair of aces by Bognar, to move up 10-9 with the Redhawks taking a timeout.  Samford continued to build on their lead, forcing SEMO to burn their second timeout with the Bulldogs in front, 18-13.  The five-point lead would hold for the remainder of the game, as Samford went on to win 25-20 and take a 2-0 match lead.
 
Samford gained as much as a four-point lead early in set three, leading 10-6, but the Redhawks quickly tied it with four unanswered to knot things up at 10-10.  The remainder of the set was a nail-biter, with neither team able to build a lead larger than two points.  After a pair of Samford attack errors and a SEMO ace gave the Redhawks a 17-15 lead, the Bulldogs regrouped with a timeout.  Soon after, a pair of kills by Reesor and a SEMO attack error gave the Bulldogs the slim 19-18 lead with SEMO taking a timeout.  The Redhawks would briefly take the lead late, 22-21, but that would be the last point they scored as Samford fired back to win 25-22 and secure the sweep.
 
MATCH TWO: SAMFORD 3, TOWSON 0
 
Samford closed out its weekend playing the Towson Tigers, as Samford took advantage of multiple Towson errors and forced a few more with 9.0 team blocks en route to a 3-0 sweep.  Towson actually held the slight edge in kills, 38-37, but 26 attack errors helped by Samford's formidable front line made the difference.  Murphy led that effort with one solo block and five assisted blocks while Reesor further extended her double-digit kill streak to 10 matches as she led the Bulldogs with 12 kills.
 
Mistakes by the Tigers helped propel Samford to an early lead in the opening frame, as the Bulldogs extended it to 11-6 with Towson taking its first timeout.  Helped by four kills by Reesor, Samford hit the 20-point mark with the lead intact but Towson had narrowed it to a two-point game as the Bulldogs took a timeout leading 20-18.  With Reesor serving up 23-20, a kill by Gabbi Greenwald would give the Bulldogs set point and a Towson attack error ended it with Samford earning a 25-20 win.
 
The momentum shifted towards the Tigers in the early stages of game two, as they jumped out in front 7-4.  A Towson service error gave Samford possession down 7-5 and back-to-back Towson attack errors and an ace by Bognar gave the Bulldogs an 8-7 lead.  The teams would trade points back and forth with six tie scores until, tied at 13-13, three consecutive blocks by Samford gave the Bulldogs a 16-13 lead with Towson taking a timeout.  Samford stretched the lead even further with a 5-2 run out of the break as the Tigers quickly burned their second timeout.  The lead would prove too large to overcome as Samford went on to win, 25-19.
 
A quick kill by setter Stephanie Palmer would give the Bulldogs the 1-0 lead to open the third set and Samford would not relinquish the lead from that point on.  Towson would tie it three times in the early stages but, tied at 4-4, the Bulldogs started to pull away.  A kill by Reesor gave the Bulldogs a 12-8 lead, their largest of the set, but Towson began to fight back.  A long 9-5 run by the Tigers let them claw back into the game, tying it up at 17-17 as the Bulldogs took a timeout.  A Towson attack error on the next possession gave Samford the 18-17 lead and it would stay in the Bulldogs' favor for the remainder of the match, as Samford won 25-21 to secure the sweep.
 
Next week, Samford opens conference play with road matches at Wofford and Furman.  The Bulldogs open on Friday, Sept. 27 against the Terriers at 6 p.m. ET and turn right around to play the Paladins on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 2 p.m. ET.