BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford University volleyball team has a chance to make a huge impact on the road this weekend with a pair of Southern Conference matches against UNCG on Friday, Oct. 14, and Wofford on Saturday, Oct. 15. The team is still searching for its first true road win of the season and a pair this weekend could make the race for the SoCon regular season title interesting.
Last Time Out
The Bulldogs went 2-0 this past weekend at home inside the Pete Hanna Center in a pair of SoCon matches. The squad downed Mercer 3-1 (26-24, 24-26, 25-21, 25-21) on Friday night and capped off the weekend with a 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-15) victory the following day over The Citadel.
Outside hitters
Kate Neisler and
Erin Bognar continued to be the driving force behind the Samford offense as the duo combined for 56 of the team's 97 kills on the weekend. Middle blocker
T.J. Russell was again busy at the net as she racked up 12 blocks over seven sets for an average of 1.71 blocks per set.
Follow The Bulldogs
Fans can follow this weekend's set of matches via live stats found in a link below or on the schedule page of SamfordSports.com or through social media on Twitter by following @SamfordVB.
UNCG –
Live Stats | Live Video (YouTube)
Wofford –
Live Stats | Live Video (YouTube)
The Series
Samford enters the weekend with winning records over both the Spartans and the Terriers. The Bulldogs own a 12-4 all-time record over UNCG and have only fell only once (10-1) to Wofford.
The only loss to Wofford came just last season in Spartanburg, S.C. when former Samford assistant coach Lynze Roos led the Terriers to a 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-18) win over Samford in her first season at the helm of the Wofford program. Samford won 3-1 (27-25, 25-21, 21-25, 25-21) later in the season at home in Birmingham.
It was the same for the pair of matches last season against the Spartans as the Bulldogs won 3-0 (25-22, 28-26, 29-27)) at home early in the season but fell in Greensboro, N.C. 3-0 (27-25, 25-17, 25-18) later in the year.
Race For SoCon Glory
The two SoCon wins this past weekend put Samford right back in the middle of the race for the SoCon regular season championship and the coveted No.1-seed for the SoCon Championship Tournament.
Near the midway point in SoCon play, five teams currently sit with a pair of losses with the Bulldogs a half game back out of the lead. This is due to having only played five games compared to the six games the top four teams have played.
ETSU, Chattanooga, Wofford and Furman each hold a 4-2 record in conference play with Samford at a 3-2 mark.
Bulldog Bullets
- Senior
Erin Bognar leads the SoCon in kills per set and is the only attacker in the conference that is averaging over four kills per set with her 4.01 average. Bognar ranks 7
th all-time in Samford history with 1,175 kills which puts her right behind Katie Murphy's 1,232.
-
Erika Pifer leads the SoCon with 688 assists and has amassed 2,332 assists over her career at Samford. The number moves Pifer up the all-time chart to sixth in the Samford record book.
-
T.J. Russell continues to be an impact at the net as she ranks fourth in the SoCon in blocks with 80 total on the season and averages 1.07 blocks per set. The 80 total blocks on the season is tied for the SoCon lead with Kaela Massey from ETSU.
Scouting the Spartans
- Defensively UNCG is one of the better defenses in the country as their team enters the week ranked 11
th nationally in digs per set. Christina Gregory looks to be the driving force as she leads the team and ranks 13
th in the nation with an average of 5.21 digs per set.
- Offensivley Ashley Muench leads the team with 261 kills for an average of 3.73 kills per set. The mark currently ranks fourth in the SoCon.
- Look for setter Allison Penner to try and make an impact in the game from a defensive standpoint as she has racked up a total of 127 digs to go along with her 552 assists. Penner has recorded five double-doubles on the season thus far.
Scouting the Terriers
- Wofford has been a team that has relied on tough serving so far this season and it has paid dividends for the Terriers as they are one of the teams currently tied for first place in the SoCon. Their team leads the conference with 121 service aces (1.53 aces per set) which is 24 more than the next ranked team.
- Individually leading that charge is freshman Catie Cronister who ranks first in the conference with 30 aces at a 0.39 clip per set.
- The Terriers have a pair of hitters in the SoCon top 10 standings in hitting percentage which means Kara Shacklette and Colleen Reilly are efficient on offense. Reilly has notched a .297 hitting percentage while Shacklette is close behind with a .288 mark.
SoCon Standings
|
SoCon |
Overall |
| Team |
Record |
Pct |
Home |
Away |
Streak |
Record |
Pct |
Home |
Away |
Neutral |
Streak |
| ETSU |
4-2 |
.667 |
3-0 |
1-2 |
W3 |
12-6 |
.667 |
6-1 |
2-4 |
4-1 |
W3 |
| Chattanooga |
4-2 |
.667 |
3-0 |
1-2 |
L1 |
11-8 |
.579 |
9-1 |
1-4 |
1-3 |
L1 |
| Wofford |
4-2 |
.667 |
1-1 |
3-1 |
W1 |
11-9 |
.550 |
2-2 |
5-2 |
4-5 |
W1 |
| Furman |
4-2 |
.667 |
4-1 |
0-1 |
W1 |
8-10 |
.444 |
5-1 |
1-5 |
2-4 |
W1 |
| Samford |
3-2 |
.600 |
3-1 |
0-1 |
W2 |
12-8 |
.600 |
8-2 |
0-4 |
4-2 |
W2 |
| UNCG |
3-3 |
.500 |
1-0 |
2-3 |
L1 |
8-10 |
.444 |
4-2 |
2-6 |
2-2 |
L1 |
| Mercer |
2-3 |
.400 |
1-1 |
1-2 |
L2 |
10-7 |
.588 |
4-1 |
2-4 |
4-2 |
L2 |
| Western Carolina |
2-4 |
.333 |
2-1 |
0-3 |
L3 |
7-12 |
.368 |
5-2 |
0-7 |
2-3 |
L3 |
| The Citadel |
0-6 |
.000 |
0-3 |
0-3 |
L6 |
6-15 |
.286 |
4-6 |
0-5 |
2-4 |
L6 |
