ARLINGTON, Texas – The Samford University volleyball team dropped its initial match of the weekend 3-2 (23-25, 23-25, 25-21, 25-21, 15-10) to host UT Arlington inside the College Park Center on Friday, Sept. 16.

Despite a hot start offensively, the Bulldogs (6-6) dropped the match after the Mavericks (4-8) caught fire in the final two sets of the match. UTA hit a solid .333 in the deciding final set to take the match after falling behind 0-2 in the match.

Four Bulldogs posted double-digit kill performances and were paced by Erin Bognar's 20 kills and 21 digs. Krista Boesing (17 kills – 15 digs), Gabbie Greenwald (13 kills) and T.J. Russell (10 kills) rounded out the offensive effort while freshman libero Grace Tiesman led the team with 23 digs.

Set 1 | W, Samford 25-23

Samford took its first lead of the match 7-6 after senior setter Erika Pifer set T.J. Russell in the middle but the Mavericks forced a continuation which allowed Pifer to go to Erin Bognar who put away the point from the back row.

From there the Bulldogs raced out on a 4-1 run and an 11-7 lead over the Mavericks which prompted a quick timeout.

UT Arlington managed to rally late and fight off three set points but Bognar put the set away with a cross court kill.
 
Set 2 | W, Samford 25-23
The Bulldogs offense continued to improve in the second set of the match as the team opened up with a 6-2 run thanks to quick starts by Bognar and Russell.

UT Arlington closed down the Samford lead midway through the set to 10-9 mainly thanks to Bulldog miscues on the offensive side of the net. It didn't take long for Samford to regroup and extend the lead back out to 16-11.

The Mavericks made another late push and took their first lead of the set 23-22 which prompted a Bulldog timeout. Samford responded with back-to-back kills from Erin Bognar which pushed her to her fourth double-double of the season and a 25-23 victory in the set.
 
Set 3 | W, UT Arlington 25-21
UT Arlington's offense found traction in the third set as the team only hit .061 and .091 in the initial two sets but raised that to .243 which put pressure on the Bulldogs.

The score remained tight for a majority of the set as there were a total of eight ties and three lead changes which was more than the previous two sets combined.

The Mavericks gained separation late thanks to a 6-1 run which included three attack errors by the Bulldogs. The run pushed UT Arlington out to a 22-18 lead from which Samford could not recover.
 
Set 4 | W, UT Arlington 25-21
Samford's offense struggled in the fourth set as the team hit a match low .051 with only 13 kills and 11 errors total. UT Arlington's offense dipped a little as its offensive attack percentage dropped from .244 to .171 but that was enough to pull out the set victory and force a fifth.

The set was tighter in score throughout the majority as there were 10 ties and three lead changes total.

The Mavericks picked up separation late in the set and went on a 5-1 run after breaking a 20-20 tie with the Bulldogs. Three of the five points came from forced Bulldog miscues on offense.
 
Set 5 | W, UT Arlington 15-10
The Bulldogs fell in the final set after UT Arlington had its best offensive production of the match. The Mavericks hit .333 with nine kills on just a pair of errors to take the victory 15-10. Samford managed only seven kills and five errors for a .087 attack percentage.
 
Next Up
Samford will take on UTEP later today at 4:30 p.m. (CDT)