BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University volleyball team continues Southern Conference play and welcomes East Tennessee State University along with Western Carolina University to the Pete Hanna Center.

The Bulldogs (7-6, 2-1 SoCon) recently endured a wild weekend after suffering their first SoCon loss of the season to Wofford and then had to cancel their match against The Citadel the following day due flooding caused by Hurricane Joaquin in Charleston, S.C.

After seven days removed from competition Samford looks to put its best foot forward and rebound against a tough ETSU (12-5, 3-1 SoCon) opponent; the match is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. (CST).

As one of the more balanced teams in the league, the Buccaneers enter tomorrow's match ranked third in the SoCon in hitting percentage (.236) and opponent hitting percentage (.167). Outside of the overall offensive and defensive numbers ETSU ranks first in blocks (2.37 b/s) and service aces (1.64 sa/s).

Senior Khadijiah Wiley is the primary weapon for the Buccaneers and is largely responsible for the outstanding numbers being produced. Wiley ranks in the top 10 in the SoCon in hitting percentage and kills but the strongest part of her game is her presence defensively at the net where she leads the SoCon with a total of 80 blocks on the season, which is 13 more than the next closest player.

The Bulldogs will need outstanding play across board and continue their tough serving to get the Buccaneers off balance. Samford currently ranks 53^rd in the nation in aces per set (1.54) and is led by freshman Alana Schouten who currently ranks 82^nd in the nation with 0.38 aces per set.

Samford welcomes in Western Carolina (7-13, 1-3 SoCon) the following day for a 2 p.m. (CST) match to cap off the home weekend. The Bulldogs are 16-6 all-time against the Catamounts coming into the weekend with the last meeting resulting in a 3-2 (27-25, 29-27, 17-25, 21-25, 11-15) loss to the team from Cullowhee, N.C.

The Catamounts lone SoCon win on the season came against the Wofford Terriers where they won a thrilling five set match at home. Since then they have dropped three-straight against the likes of Chattanooga, Furman and UNCG.

Western Carolina looks to rely on the trio of Alyssa Zupan, Savannah Kohlhagen and Kaycey Cermin to generate the bulk of its offensive production as each has over 100 kills so far in the season.

Defensively, Elyssa Mulheron will be the player responsible for getting the Catamounts in system as she has tallied 313 digs on the year which ranks 3^rd amongst all SoCon players.

For the Bulldogs to be successful this weekend the team will need consistent play from the back row in serve receive to get the offense in system for the attackers.

Fans can follow this weekend's matches via live stats found on SamfordSports.com or via Twitter by following @SamfordVB. Saturday's contest against Western Carolina can be viewed via the SoCon Digital Network.