Charleston, S.C. – The Samford University volleyball team extended its winning streak to nine games as they dismantled The Citadel 3-0 on Friday, Oct. 17. Reigning SoCon Player of the Year Michaela Reesor led the way with 11 kills as the Bulldogs hit .337 as a team in the decision with 42 kills on 92 attempts.

"It would have been easy for us to look past this game and ahead to Furman tomorrow but we stayed mature and executed well tonight." Head Coach Derek Schroeder mentioned.

Samford (13-7, 7-0 SoCon) jumped out in front early over The Citadel (6-16, 0-7 SoCon) over the Bulldogs from Charleston. SU clung to a 16-14 lead in the initial set before exploding on a 9-4 run to take the set and a 1-0 lead in the match.

The Bulldogs continued to let The Citadel hang around in the second set and actually trailed early on 6-3 before rallying to take a 7-6 lead. The Samford middles came alive as junior Emily Meitz and redshirt freshman T.J. Russell went on a tear to help extend the Bulldogs lead to 15-9. SU closed out the set with a 25-18 decision for a 2-0 lead heading into the break.

SU didn't allow The Citadel to hang around any in the third set as the Bulldogs convincingly took a 25-7 decision. The Citadel managed only one kill in set as the other six points were from Samford offensive miscues.

The Bulldogs only committed 11 attack errors in the match as compared to The Citadel's 16.
Russell and sophomore Erin Bognar combined for eight kills apiece in the match while sophomore setter Erika Pifer tallied 35 assists. Senior libero Chelsi Carter picked up her 40^th service ace of the season as she notched a pair in the match to go along with 11 digs; sophomore Gabbi Greenwald led the Bulldogs with three service aces.

"Tomorrows match should be fun and entertaining for everyone involved." Schroeder said. 

Samford will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 18, to face SoCon foe Furman University. The match can be found via live stream on the SoCon Digital Network with first serve set for 3 p.m. CDT.