BATON ROUGE, La. – The Samford Volleyball team fell 3-0 to the Owls of Rice University in its second contest of the Tiger Classic on Friday, Aug. 26.
 
Lauren Deaton posted a game-high 17 kills in the setback, to go along with five digs. Kenya McQuirter logged eight kills while Andie Salasky accounted for a team-high 10 digs with two aces.
 
Kayla Keshock led the way again with 25 assists for the Bulldogs. The junior setter finished just one dig shy of a double-double at nine.
 
The Owls applied the pressure early, scoring 10 of the match's first 11 points before eventually taking a 16-3 lead over the Bulldogs in set one. Samford found life via an 11-4 run over the next portion of the set that brought their deficit to just 20-14. Rice would recollect themselves after a timeout however to claim set one 25-15.
 
Set two saw the Bulldogs and Owls exchange blows, with the score reading 8-7 in favor of Rice after a kill from McQuirter. After going down 20-15 to the Owls, the Bulldogs orchestrated a timely 8-0 to go up 23-20 but would surrender the next five points unanswered to drop set two in heartbreaking fashion.
 
Another fast start from the Owls in set three saw them take a 10-4 lead, with the turning point coming on a 5-0 run that put them up 22-10.
 
"I think today was a day of challenges," Head Coach Keylor Chan said. "We purposely scheduled a really hard tournament out of the bat to see where we are at and we're kind of getting what we wanted. Now, the trick is, can we move through these doors quickly? That's what we're going to try to do when we suit up for Houston Overall, it's been a great day of learning."
 
The Bulldogs will play the third and final game of the weekend on Saturday, Aug. 27 when they take on the University Houston at 12:00 p.m. from the Pete Maravich Center.
 
FOLLOW THE BULLDOGS:
For the latest news and information on Samford volleyball, visit the official website for Samford Athletics at SamfordSports.com. Fans can also follow the Bulldogs on social media at @SamfordSports (Facebook), @SamfordVB (Instagram) and @SamfordVB (Twitter).