JOHNSON CITY, N.C. – The Samford University volleyball team concluded the regular season with a 3-1 (16-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-19) victory over ETSU on Saturday, Nov. 14, inside Brooks Gymnasium. The win marks the 10^th SoCon victory of the season a feat that has been achieved for five consecutive years.

The Bulldogs (15-11, 10-6 SoCon) started the match sluggish which allowed the Buccaneers (18-11, 9-7 SoCon) to jump out to a commanding 11-2 lead that could not be overcome. Samford rallied on a 7-1 run in the middle of the set to close down the ETSU lead 17-14 but a pair of errors from the Bulldogs allowed the Buccaneers to extend their lead out to 19-14 which they eventually closed out the set 25-16.

Samford hit .088 in the set compared the ETSU's .314.

In the second set juniors Erin Bognar and Kiahna Wicks came alive to lead the Samford offense to a 25-23 victory which evened the match 1-1. Wicks tallied five kills (.714) while Bognar put down four (.300) of her own. As a team Samford managed 17 kills for an astounding .516 attack percentage.

The Bulldogs continued to thrive after the intermission as the team put pressure on the Buccaneers through tough service and an improved blocking performance at the net. Samford tallied four service aces and three team blocks. Freshman Alana Schouten picked up a pair of aces while Bognar and redshirt freshman Kate Neisler each chipped in one in the set.

Freshman setter Taylor Anderton had one solo block and a pair of block assists in the set while Wicks and senior Emily Meitz also recorded block assists to push Samford to a 25-19 set win.

Bognar took control of the fourth set of the match to secure the victory for the Bulldogs. The St. Louis, Mo. native racked up eight of her 17 kills in the final set and hit .583 to lead Samford to another 25-19 set decision.

Bognar ended the night hitting .350 and scooped out 17 digs for her third consecutive double-double and fourth out of her last six matches.

Morgan St. Germain continued to lead from the libero position for Samford as she notched 14 digs in the match.

The Bulldogs next challenge is the Southern Conference Championship Tournament which takes place on Nov. 21-23, in Cullowhee, N.C. on the campus of Western Carolina inside the Ramsey Center.