BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford University volleyball team attempted to mount a heroic comeback in the 3-2 defeat to ETSU at home on Saturday, Sept. 24, inside the Pete Hanna Center.

The Bulldogs (10-7, 1-1 SoCon) fell behind early in the match 2-0 to the Buccaneers (9-5, 1-1 SoCon) but rallied out of the intermission to win the third and fourth sets 25-23 and 25-21 to tie the match 2-2.

ETSU finally bounced back in the final set and jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead over Samford which prompted head coach Keylor Chan to call timeout to try and shut down the Buccaneers momentum.

A 4-1 run by the Bulldogs closed down the Buccaneers lead to 5-4 and Samford nearly tied the set but Briana Allmon sparked an ETSU rally where the team from Johnson City, Tennessee capitalized to extend its lead to 10-5. The deficit was too great for the Bulldogs to recover from a second time in the set.

Samford avoided the sweep after the offense improved from the initial two sets of the match. The Bulldogs committed 13 attack errors in sets one and two but made adjustments to where the team only committed 11 over the final three sets.

T.J. Russell patrolled the net for Samford as she contributed six total blocks, two solo and four assisted on the night while the team as a whole finished with 12 in the effort.
Offensively senior Erin Bognar posted a team-high 21 kills (.188) which was followed up by sophomore Krista Boesing's double-double of 13 kills (.082) and 15 digs.

Freshman libero Grace Tiesman led the charge defensively with 20 digs while senior defensive specialist Mattie Newson notched 13 digs.

The Bulldogs will return to SoCon play on Saturday, Oct. 1, when the team travels to Cullowhee, N.C. to take on Western Carolina University in their solo contest for the week.