BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford volleyball team dropped a 3-1 (18-25, 25-27, 25-23, 17-25) decision to Clemson on the first day of the Samford Invitational Friday evening in the Pete Hanna Center.
 
With the loss, Samford falls to 4-7 on the season. Clemson improves to 8-3 with the win.
 
Kenya McQuirter led Samford with 15 kills in the loss. Lauren Deaton and Gracie Lynn Butler had 11 kills each for the Bulldogs. Kate Morgan led Samford in digs with 19. Camryn Hannah led Clemson with 18 kills in the win.
 
In the first set, Clemson jumped out to an early 11-5 lead following a Samford attack error. Samford scored the next two points to cut the lead to 11-7 after a kill by Deaton. Clemson built its lead to eight at 21-13 after a kill by Ani Clark. Samford closed to within five points at 23-18 on block assists by Butler and Kate Wonus. Clemson, however, scored the final two points to take the set, 25-18.
 
Samford took an early 7-3 lead to start the second set after a service ace by Andie Salasky. Clemson fought back to cut the lead to one at 9-8 after a Samford attack error. The Tigers came back to take a 16-14 lead. Clemson built its lead to four points at 23-19 after a kill by Jacyn Bamis. Samford fought back to knot the score at 24-24 on a Clemson attack error. The teams traded points until Clemson was able to pull out the 27-25 win.
 
In the third set, Clemson took an early 5-1 lead on a kill by Hannah. Samford came back to cut the lead to one at 9-8 after a Clemson attack error. The Bulldogs tied the score at 11-11 on a service ace by Butler. After Clemson took a 15-12 lead, Samford scored the next four points to take a 16-15 lead off a kill by McQuirter. The teams traded the next several points until Clemson was able to take a 19-17 lead after a kill by Colleen Finney. The Tigers built a 22-19 lead, but Samford came back to score six of the next seven points to take the 25-23 set win.
 
Clemson grabbed an early 7-4 lead in the fourth set after a service ace by Mia McGrath. With Clemson leading, 9-6, Samford scored the next four points to take a 10-9 lead after a service ace by Butler. Clemson grabbed a 16-12 lead after a kill by Hannah. The Tigers built their lead to six points at 20-14 after a service ace by McKenna Slavik. Clemson extended its lead to 23-16 and finished the set with a 25-17 set win and a match win of 3-1.
 
The Samford Invitational will continue with Clemson taking on Murray State Saturday at 2 p.m. Samford will wrap up the event by playing Murray State Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Pete Hanna Center.



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