LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Samford Volleyball team closed the book on its 2022 season with a 3-0 loss at no. 4 Louisville in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday.
"Louisville is good," Head Coach Keylor Chan said. "They're really good. I'm proud of my team. It's never easy to face a team as talented and prepared in a team like Louisville who is preparing for a national championship - that's obvious. But I'm super proud of this group. Tonight is an indication of the season that they've had - they've really had an amazing season."
The Bulldogs finish off the season with a record of 19-13, their most wins since 2019.
Kenya McQuirter led the Bulldogs with seven kills on the night while Gracie Lynn Butler added six kills and five digs.
Kate Morgan posted a team-high seven digs while Kayla Keshock's 11 assists served as the team-high. Samantha Horn logged seven assists while Lauren Deaton added four kills and a pair of digs.
Louisville jumped out to a 9-2 lead in set one, but Samford fought back to trail just 13-6 following a Cardinal attack error. The Cardinals finished out the set by scoring nine-straight points to take the first 25-9.
In set two, Louisville took control by jumping out to a 10-1 lead. Samford was able to string together a 4-0 run to trim its deficit to 20-11, but Louisville responded with five of the next seven points to claim set two 25-12.
The third and final set saw Louisville take a 10-4 lead but Samford battled back to make it 14-8 following a McQuirter kill. A 3-0 run, followed by a 4-0 run, from the Cardinals padded their lead to 22-10 before eventually taking the third set 25-12.
"We didn't dominate the SoCon this year, we had some losses throughout the season," Deaton said. "Going into the tournament, we just turned it to another level with our resilience and we were relentless in the tournament, so it was really cool to see this team start fighting towards the end of the year, when at the beginning of the year we were kind of struggling with that. So just seeing the team grow immensely, the underclassmen really stepping up and then the leadership from the seniors and juniors was really cool to see. And I know that we'll pass that down and they'll do the same thing next year and the year after that."
"It's a really cool experience to make the run that we did," Senior Sarah Hayes Farley said. "The SoCon [Southern Conference] is a very competitive conference and so that was really fun to be able to do that. The bond that we have as a team is just – you don't really see. It was really fun as a senior to be able to go out like that just knowing that we have the friendships that we do and it's not just about the wins and losses, but also about the memories that we make and we made some really good memories this year."
Seniors Farley, McQuirter, Emily Naubert, and Andie Salasky close out their tenure with the Bulldogs with three SoCon Championships while Deaton was able to a part of four teams that won conference titles, establishing themselves as one of the most decorated classes in program history.
"It's not just about winning and losing and if it is, then I'll get out," Chan said. "It's about overcoming adversity, teaching people how to deal with issues. And learning how to play together. Putting your issues aside sometimes and being humble enough to do that. I'll get off my pulpit a bit, but it's just been an honor and they're special, so I'll leave it at that. They are special."
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