Box Score BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – The Samford University volleyball team opened the 2014 season in exciting fashion as the Bulldogs picked up two quality wins over Georgia State University and Jacksonville State University on the first day of the Samford-UAB Volleyball Challenge at the Pete Hanna Center on Friday, August 29.

"Nice opening day and a couple of good wins." Head Coach Derek Schroeder said. "I'm happy to get our execution level up on the floor versus someone else and be able to see our system live."

The Samford offense acted like a smooth running machine thanks in part to the play of sophomore Erika Pifer. The DeLand, Florida native picked up 57 assists through the two matches with 43 coming in the second contest against JSU.

"We had very solid first contact in the JSU match." Schroeder said. "Our young setter (Pifer) dished the ball very well as our attack percentage showed that."

SU hit the .239 mark in the hitting percentage category against Georgia State but vastly improved in the second match against Jacksonville State as the team tallied a .391 hitting percentage. Senior Michaela Reesor led the way individually with 18 kills on 29 total attacks (.586) against the Gamecocks.

(Samford 3, Georgia State 0)
The Bulldogs opened competition and took the first two sets against the Panthers in convincing fashion as they cruised to a 25-13 and 25-12 decision.

GSU responded in the third set and gave SU a fight but Samford rallied to take the set and the match on a 25-20 win.

Sophomore Erin Bognar paced the SU offense with seven kills in the match while senior libero Chelsi Carter notched 10 digs.

(Samford 3, Jacksonville State 0)
In match two of the day the Bulldogs' Reesor came alive as the Caledon, Ontario, Canada native posted 18 kills. Bognar followed up her offensive performance from match one with a 10-kill effort.

Defensively both Carter and senior Selina Schirmer picked up 12 digs each that allowed Pifer to make multiple option passes.

SU took the first set in a back-and-forth affair 25-22 then cruised to a 25-7 decision before heading into intermission.

Jacksonville State put the pressure on in the third set and held the lead for a majority of the time before the Bulldogs rallied to close out the match 25-22.

Samford returns to action on Saturday, August 30, against No. 16 Michigan State University on the last day of the Samford - UAB Volleyball Challenge inside the Pete Hanna Center located on the campus of Samford University.