Box Score vs. ETSU
Updated Samford Stats

Championship Links for Monday:  Video (ESPN3)  |  Live Stats  |  Tickets  |  SoCon Tournament Bracket

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University volleyball team turned in one of its most impressive victories of the 2016 campaign Sunday as the Bulldogs rolled to a 3-0 (25-21, 25-15, 25-16) upset win over the top-seeded ETSU Buccaneers in the semifinal round of the Southern Conference Tournament held at the Pete Hanna Center.
 
With the win, Samford (20-13) advanced to Monday's championship title match against the No. 3-seeded Chattanooga Mocs (19-12). The contest will be held on the Bulldogs' home floor, where they have posted a brilliant 13-2 record this season.
 
The victor of Monday's game will earn the SoCon's automatic bid to the 2016 NCAA Tournament. Samford has qualified for the NCAA Tournament twice in its history, both of which have occurred since the 2011 campaign. The Bulldogs joined the SoCon in 2008 and won the SoCon Tournament championship in both 2011 and 2014.
 
Senior outside hitter and First Team All-SoCon selection Erin Bognar led the host Bulldogs with a match-high 16 kills, 12 of which came in the first two frames. Bognar tallied a team-high 34 attacks with only four errors, giving her an efficient .353 hitting percentage.
 
Redshirt sophomore Kate Neisler also registered double-digit kills for the Bulldogs with 11 kills on 24 attempts and only three errors; she hit .333 in the three-set the victory.
 
On the losing side, First Team All-SoCon selection AJ Lux led ETSU (22-8) with nine kills on 21 attempts. Briana Allmon, the 2016 SoCon Player of the Year, had 39 attacks, but only saw eight fall in favor for the Bucs. The Samford defense held the Flower Mound, Texas, native to a .000 hitting percentage and held all ETSU players to single-digit kills.
 
The Bulldogs opened the first frame of the day at the Pete Hanna Center with an 11-6 run to get the Samford fans on their feet early.
 
Bognar recorded eight kills on 16 attacks with only two errors to give her a notable .375 hitting percentage. As a team, the Bulldogs hit .311 with 17 assists on its 18 team kills. Erika Pifer and Taylor Anderton combined for 14 of those 17 Samford assists.
 
The Samford defense limited Allmon to five kills on 18 attempts and held the Bucs' offense as a unit to a hitting percentage of .182. Samford closed out the first set by a margin of 25-21.
 
The second set saw much of the same with the Bulldogs easing their way into a 14-6 lead after scoring seven consecutive points with the score in favor of Samford, 7-6. ETSU head coach Lindsey Devine called timeout following the Bulldogs' seven-point stretch. The Bucs responded with back-to-back points, but the deficit was too much to overcome as the Bulldogs went on to take the set, 25-15.
 
The Bulldogs held the ETSU offense to a .088 hitting percentage with Allmon, Lux and Rylee Milhorn combining for 30 swings out of ETSU's 34 total attacks. Through two sets played, Bognar and Neilser were in double-figures with 12 and 10 kills, respectively.
 
Coming out of the break, ETSU notched the first two points with a service ace by Allmon followed by block by freshman Kaela Massey and Milhorn. Both teams were neck-and-neck at the halfway mark with the score tied at 13-13. The Bulldogs went on a 7-1 run to take a 20-14 lead.
 
Devine took her second and final timeout of the third set, but the Bucs couldn't find a rhythm, scoring just twice of the following seven possessions. The Bulldogs scored four unanswered to take the set and match, 25-16. A pass from Grace Tiesman to Gabbi Greenwald, who pummeled the ball into the ETSU zone, sent the Bulldogs to their second SoCon championship in three years, and third since 2011. 
 
The Bulldogs will face No. 3-seed Chattanooga on Monday at 6 p.m. (CST) on ESPN3.
 
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Box Score vs. ETSU
Updated Samford Stats

Championship Links for Monday:  Video (ESPN3)  |  Live Stats  |  Tickets  |  SoCon Tournament Bracket