FULL WEEKEND NOTES (PDF)

SAMFORD TO OPEN SOCON PLAY ON THE ROAD
Samford Volleyball (9-6) begins its conference schedule this weekend with road matches at Wofford and Furman.  The Bulldogs will face the Terriers on Friday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. ET before playing Furman the following afternoon at 2 p.m. ET.

SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Wofford (5-9) - The Terriers are under new leadership this season, as first-year head coach Ron Sweet will look to take Wofford to the SoCon Touranment for the first time since 2006.  Wofford lost all three matches at last weekend's Wildcat Classic in Tuscon, Ariz., and will look to rebound this weekend with their first home matches of the season.  Despite their 5-9 record, the Terriers have earned more kills than their opponents, 603-538, but 286 attack errors and 172 service errors have limited their offensive opportunities.  The Terriers' tandem at the pins have accounted for most of their offense, with Taylor Baird and Wendy Burrett leading the team with 155 and 150 kills, respectively.  Baird also owns a team-leading 20 service aces and Burrett is second on the team with 136 digs, only trailing sophomore defender Jessica Graham at 216.

Furman (4-7) - The Paladins, a perennial SoCon contender, lost their first five matches of the season but have since bounced back, winning four of their last six matches including a four-set win over South Carolina.  After graduating a talented senior class in 2012, the Paladins will count on talented young players to step up.  Last year's SoCon Freshman of the Year, sophomore setter Jo Wilks, returns to pace the offense while freshman middle blocker Ashton Gregory earned Freshman of the Week honors in week two.  Gregory is second on the team in kills (105), only trailing 2012 SoCon All-Touranment honoree, senior Christina Dorismond, with 117.

ALL-TIME VERSUS WEEKEND OPPONENTS
Samford is undefeated versus Wofford in the all-time series, holding a 5-0 record over the Terriers since joining the Southern Conference in 2008.  Wofford nearly won its first match against Samford last season, pulling ahead 2-0 in the match before the Bulldogs fought back to eventually win in five sets.

Samford is 4-11 overall against Furman all-time, but 4-3 since joining the SoCon in 2008.  Two of those nine conference matchups have come in the SoCon Tournament, with Furman winning 3-2 in 2008 before the Bulldogs got revenge in 2011 with a 3-0 sweep.  Last season's 3-2 win against Furman was Head Coach Derek Schroeder's 100th win at Samford.

LAST TIME OUT: MIZZOU CLASSIC
Samford wrapped up the pre-conference portion of its schedule last weekend with three matches at the Mizzou Classic, hosted by the University of Missouri.  The Bulldogs fell to the undefeated host Tigers in Friday's opener before bouncing back on Saturday with sweeps against SEMO and Towson.

On Friday, Samford was stymied up front as the Missouri front line posted 12.0 team blocks (3 solo, 18 assisted) to limit the Bulldogs' attack percentage to .126.  Michaela Reesor's double-digit kill streak was extended to eight games as she led the Bulldogs with 12 kills.  Katie Murphy did not commit any errors on 13 swings, scoring six kills to hit .462 in the match and raise her season total to .409.  Chelsi Carter led all players with 11 digs, making it her sixth-straight match with at least 10 digs.

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.

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.

IMPRESSIVE STREAKS
Junior Michaela Reesor and senior Katie Murphy are two of the Bulldogs' most potent offensive weapons this season.  Both of them will head into the conference schedule with a pair of impressive streaks.

Reesor has earned at least 10 kills in 10-straight matches, stretching back to the Sept. 6 matchup against South Alabama.  In fact, she has earned at least 10 kills in all but three of Samford's 15 matches so far this season.  Her previous best streak was seven games, which she earned during the 2012 season from Oct. 13 through Nov. 3.

Murphy has earned an attack percentage exceeding .400 in six-straight matches.  Her hitting percentage over that stretch is a whopping .523, with her season total at a SoCon-leading .419 clip.  Murphy holds two of the top three single-season hitting percentages in Samford school history, with her 2011 total of .427 in second and her 2012 total of .360 in third.  She currently ranks second in the career top-ten with a .375 career clip, trailing former teammate Lauren Hutchinson by only two-thousandths of a point (.377).

SOCON HISTORY
Since joining the Southern Conference in 2008, Samford has remained one of the perennial powerhouses of the league.  Over the past five seasons, the Bulldogs have earned a 62-20 (.756) record against conference opponents.  Samford's best record came in 2008, winning 16 of their 18 conference matchups.  Since moving to a 16-match conference schedule in 2009, last season's 14-2 record stands as the team's best during that stretch.  Samford won the league's North Division in four of those five seasons, including a Tournament Championship in 2011.

Adding home court advantage to the equation, the Bulldogs have been nearly untouchable.  At the Pete Hanna Center, Samford owns a 35-6 (.854) SoCon record.  Samford's three home conference losses in 2010 is the only season the Bulldogs have lost more than one SoCon match at home.

UP NEXT
After 13-straight road matches, the Bulldogs finally return home for a pair of matches at the Pete Hanna Center.  Samford plays Western Carolina on Friday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. and then plays Appalachian State on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m.