Box Score BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA – The electricity could barely be contained inside the Pete Hanna Center on Saturday, August 30, as the Samford University volleyball team gave No. 16 Michigan State University all they could handle before eventually falling 3-1.
The Bulldogs' offense was slow to get going in the first two sets due to untimely miscues but rallied in third to take the set 33-31 over the nationally ranked foe.
It was a back-and-forth affair in the third and the Spartans held a 22-19 lead before Samford made its' move. A
Chelsi Carter service ace brought the Bulldogs within two points and fellow senior
Michaela Reesor tied the set at 23-23 shortly after with a monster shot from the outside.
"MSU is an elite team and we may be watching them in the Final Four this year." Head Coach
Derek Schroeder said. "They hit us pretty hard in the first two sets and we didn't have a lot of answers."
"I loved our fight and our demeanor in sets three and four." Schroeder explained "That mentality carried us to a higher level of play tonight and it's something to build on and take with us into future matches. "
SU carried the momentum from the rally and feed off the energy from the raucous crowd in attendance to put the set away.
"Great Crowd! Just Great! I'm so happy." Schroeder proudly said. "I like to think that a team that plays as hard as we do and as fast as we do because of them, it's just fun to watch. Hopefully we have earned a return visit from most of those fans."
Samford attempted to maintain the energy it created in the fourth set but the Michigan State depth showed as they fought back to take the set and the match 25-19.
Carter finished the match with 27 digs while Reesor tallied 15 kills on 53 attempts. Sophomore
Erika Pifer notched another great night with 43 assists.
Allyssah Fitterer paced the Spartan offense with 16 kills on 26 attemps while Rachel Minarik tallied 35 assists.
The Bulldogs return to action on September 5, when the team travels to Highland Heights, Kentucky to compete in the Northern Kentucky University Tournament.
2014 SAMFORD/UAB Challenge All-Tournament TeamSydney Nelson – UAB
Bethanie Thomas – UAB
Chelsi Carter - Samford
Michaela Reesor – Samford
Chloe Reinig – Michigan State
Kori Moster - Michigan State
Allyssah Fitterer – Michigan State ****Tournament MVP
