NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Samford University volleyball team saved its best for last as they rallied to defeat Tennessee State University 3-2 after falling behind 0-2 in the first two sets on Saturday, Sept. 5^th, at Klein Hall.

"We wanted to create an atmosphere on the road in a hostile environment but Tennessee State made it difficult for us to do that…their fans were definitely rowdy," Head Coach Dex Schroeder said. "But we settled ourselves down after the intermission and found a way to take control and play Samford volleyball."

Samford (2-2) faced its first five set challenge of the season and was locked into a 10-10 tie in the final moments with Tennessee State (0-4) until senior Emily Meitz and junior Gabbi Greenwald stonewalled the Tigers attack with a block to go up 11-10.

The Bulldogs had their best offensive outing of the season as the team hit .306 compared to the Tigers (0-4) .222 average on the match. Redshirt freshman Kate Neisler stepped up in her first collegiate match to record 19 kills on 43 attacks (.302). Neisler was one of four on the team to post double-digit kills in the victory: Krista Boesing (17), Emily Meitz (14) and T.J. Russell (11) each provided offensive support in the match.

Neisler finished with her first career double-double as she also tallied 11 digs to go along with her 19 kills.

Tennessee State jumped out on Samford early in the match and took the first two sets 25-21 and 26-24 thanks to great play from Arijana Anderson and Chloe Watson.

Samford righted the ship with a convincing 25-15 win in the third set and took away the strong TSU serve by only allowing one service ace in the set. The Tigers recorded a total of 12 service aces in the first two sets of the match.

Meitz took over the fourth set for the Bulldogs as she recorded 7 kills on only 8 attempts for an astounding .875 hitting percentage. Samford needed to earn every point in the set but the team eventually took it 27-25 to force the deciding fifth set.

The Bulldogs return to action on Friday, Sept. 11, to take on McNeese State in the South Alabama Tournament at 4 p.m.