FULL NOTES (PDF)

BULLDOGS HEAD TO NASHVILLE FOR LIPSCOMB INVITATIONAL
This weekend, Samford (3-2) will head to Nashville, Tenn., for the Lipscomb Invitational, playing three matches over two days.  The Bulldogs open against South Alabama (2-1) on Friday, Sept. 6 at 10 a.m. CT before facing Lipscomb (1-2) that night at 7:30 p.m. CT in a match that will be shown on ESPN3.  Samford closes the weekend on Saturday, Sept. 7 against Jacksonville State (1-3) at Noon.

LIPSCOMB VS. SAMFORD ON ESPN3
Friday night's match is the first of five Lipscomb matches that will be broadcast on ESPN3 this season.  Fans can watch the match live online at WatchESPN.com, on their mobile devices with the WatchESPN app or through ESPN on Xbox LIVE to Gold members and on Apple TV.

First serve in the match is expected shortly after 7:30 p.m. CT with Jared Revlett on play-by-play along with color analyst Kris Risley.

SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
South Alabama (2-1) - The Jaguars opened their season with two wins at home against Tennessee State and Southern Utah before falling in five sets to Georgia Southern.  Freshman outside hitter Jessica Lewis was named the Sun Belt Freshman of the Week after leading the team with 48 kills, scoring in double-figures during each of the weekend's three matches.  Lewis was the Jaguars' most potent offensive weapon over the weekend, while the middle blocking pair of Symone Stephenson and Nikki Gittens combined for 44 kills and nine blocks.

Lipscomb (1-2) - The Lady Bisons faced a tough slate in its opening weekend at the Bulldog Invitational in Athens, Ga., sweeping Furman but falling to Georgia and TCU.  They were led on offense by a talented pair of juniors in middle blocker Jewell Dobson and outside hitter Lauren Ford, with Dobson earning a team-leading 44 kills and eight blocks while Ford was close behind with 41.  Defensively, junior Sophie Kellerman led the team with 36 digs while senior setter Caitlin Dotson paced the attack with 122 assists.

Jacksonville State (1-3) - The Gamecocks opened their season at the UAB/Samford Volleyball Challenge, though they played all four of their matches at Bartow Arena.  Their lone win of the weekend came against Presbyterian while they fell to  Minnesota, Mercer and UAB.  Sophomore outside hitter Emily Rutherford knocked in 43 kills while junior middle blocker Nicole Merget came out of the weekend with a .352 attack percentage with 33 kills and 15 blocks.

ALL-TIME VERSUS WEEKEND OPPONENTS
Samford is a combined 23-43 all-time against this weekend's opponents.  The last time Samford met any of these three opponents was in 2007, when they played all three of them.  Samford was swept by Lipscomb and Jacksonville State but defeated South Alabama, 3-1.

The Bulldogs have the least playing experience with Lipscomb, though the Lady Bisons have a 3-1 edge in the all-time series.  South Alabama holds a slight 10-9 edge in that series while Jacksonville State owns an overwhelming 30-13 all-time advantage.

ERRORS COST BULLDOGS IN 3-0 LOSS TO UAB
Good play by UAB and some mental mistakes by Samford made for a tough night at Bartow Arena Wednesday as the Bulldogs were swept by the Blazers.
 
"We showed some immaturity tonight," said Head Coach Derek Schroeder.  "It's something we'll have to work through and correct moving forward.  UAB played a great match."
 
Samford was limited to a season-low .106 attack percentage with 18 errors on 85 swings.  The Bulldogs' serve receive was uncharacteristically sloppy as well with nine receiving errors.  Samford's offensive effort was led by Katie Murphy with nine kills and a .389 attack percentage, while SoCon Freshman of the Week Erin Bognar was close behind with seven kills.  Freshman Erika Pifer saw her first collegiate action and led the Bulldogs with 13 assists while Michaela Reesor and Chelsi Carter led the defense with eight digs each.
 
UAB (4-1) hit hard and never relented, outscoring Samford 56-35 with Sam Skinner and Kiriana Hirini both in double-digit kills.  Skinner and Ally Slaughter both excelled at the service line as well, accounting for seven of the Blazers' nine service aces.
SAMFORD SITS AT TOP OF SOCON RANKINGS
Five matches into the 2013 season, the Bulldogs are well represented near the top of multiple team and individual SoCon stat rankings.

As a team, Samford leads the conference in kills (14.33/set), ranks third in assists (178, 11.87/set), fourth in hitting percentage (.258) and fifth in aces (20, 1.33/set).

Individually, Katie Murphy ranks third in hitting percentage (.432) as one of only three in the SoCon hitting at least .400.  Stephanie Palmer ranks third in assists (141, 10.07/set), Chelsi Carter ranks sixth in digs (55, 3.67/set) while Michaela Reesor is eighth in kills (45, 3.00/set)

BOGNAR NAMED SOCON FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Samford freshman Erin Bognar had a stellar collegiate debut weekend at the UAB/Samford Volleyball Challenge, and the Southern Conference recognized her performance by naming her the SoCon Freshman of the Week, announced Monday.
 
The St. Louis, Mo., native was the only Bulldog freshman to start all four matches last weekend.  She was second on the team with 36 kills, only trailing Michaela Reesor with 39, to go along with 21 digs, six block assists and three service aces.  Bognar's best performance of the weekend came in the 3-0 win over Mercer, where she led all players with 17 kills with only two errors on 29 swings for a .517 attack percentage.
 
It is Samford's first weekly conference award of the 2013 season and the first Freshman of the Week accolade since Reesor won it on Nov. 14, 2011.  Georgia Southern's Jamie DeRatt earned Offensive Player of the Week honors while Appalachian State's Meghan Mahoney was named the Defensive Player of the Week.

UP NEXT
Next weekend, Samford will travel to Kennesaw, Ga., for the KSU Owls Invitational on Friday, Sept. 13 and Saturday, Sept. 14.  Samford opens up on Friday against Coastal Carolina (10 a.m. ET) and Stony Brook (2:30 p.m. ET) before facing Tennessee Tech (2:30 p.m. ET) and Kennesaw State (7:30 p.m. ET) on Saturday.