GREENSBORO, N.C. – Despite a stellar night by senior outside hitter Erin Bognar, who posted 20 kills with only one error, the Samford University volleyball team dropped the match 3-1 (21-25, 25-21, 27-25, 25-22) to Southern Conference foe UNCG on the road Friday evening. Bognar finished the night hitting .413 with eight digs and a pair of assists.

The Bulldogs (12-9, 3-3 SoCon) jumped out in front early 1-0 over the Spartans (9-10, 4-3 SoCon) with a decisive 25-21 victory in the initial set. However, the Spartans' efficiency on offense with having three players with double-digit kills and less than two errors a piece made the difference in the match.

Series Update
The win by UNCG narrowly closed down the gap in the all-time series as Samford still holds a commanding 12-5 record over the Spartans.

By The Set

Set 1 | W, Samford (25-21) Samford recorded four and half total team blocks en route to the 25-21 opening set victory over UNCG. T.J. Russell, Gabbi Greenwald and Kate Neisler each had a pair of block assists while Kelsi Hobbs had one solo block and Bognar was a part of a triple block along with Neisler and Greenwald. The Bulldogs only recorded a pair of blocks over the course of the next three sets.

Set 2 | L, UNCG (25-21) The turning point came midway through the set before intermission when UNCG ripped off a 6-0 run to gain a 20-15 lead over Samford. The Bulldogs bounced back to fight off four set points and closed down the Spartans lead to 24-21 but eventually fell on a kill by Alexis Mourier after a UNCG timeout.

Set 3 | L, UNCG (27-25) Tiesman pushed Samford out to a 3-0 lead in the set with the lone ace of the match for the Bulldogs. From there the two teams battled for a lead for a majority of the set until UNCG scored three-straight after being faced with a 25-24 Samford set point.

Set 3 | L, UNCG (25-21) Despite a sluggish start on the offensive side the Bulldogs posted their most efficient offensive outing of the night as the team hit .311 with 19 kills. However, the Spartans capitalized on a 7-0 start to the set to secure the game win and the match victory.

Key Notes
- Bognar's .413 hitting percentage is the highest any Bulldog has hit this season with over 40 attacks in a match. She only committed one attack error on the night with 20 kills.

- Setter Taylor Anderton posted her second double-double of the season with 24 assists and 10 digs on the night.

- Freshman libero Grace Tiesman tallied her sixth 20-plus dig performance of the year. Tiesman's 26 digs was only one shy of tying her career-record of 27 in a single match.

- There was a total of 26 ties throughout the four sets of play against the Spartans with 11 being the most during the second set.

Next Up
Samford travels to Spartanburg, S.C. to take on the Wofford Terriers. First serve is set for 3 p.m. (CST).