Samford 3, Davidson 1
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University volleyball team won its fourth consecutive Southern Conference match Sunday, defeating Davidson in four sets (25-18, 21-25, 25-15, 25-10. The Bulldogs, who remain undefeated in Pete Hanna Center and have won six in a row, improve to 10-7, 4-0 SoCon while Davidson falls to 3-16, 0-3 SoCon.
Samford took set one after overcoming a three-point deficit halfway through the set, but Davidson turned the tables and took over the lead in set two after trailing for half of the set. However, the Bulldogs came out of the 10-minute break between sets two and three and dominated the final two sets to win, 3-1.
"I was very disappointed with the defensive mindset we played with in set two, but our response to adversity in set three and four was excellent," Samford head coach Derek Schroeder said. "Sheriden Stanoghr was great for us today, hitting what she did on 21 sets."
Stangohr led the Bulldogs in kills with 13, hitting .571 on 21 attempts and committing only one error. She led in blocks with four block assists while also adding two aces and one dig. Rachel Gadberry led the Bulldogs in hitting with a .692 percentage. She knocked down 10 kills on 13 attempts with only one error while adding three block assists. Allie Bettinger had nine kills, hitting .353, and five digs while Shelby Brandon had eight kills and two block assists.
Hillary Fountain dished out 40 assists while grabbing nine digs, one ace and one block assist. She also had three kills on six attempts with no errors. Samantha Bland led the Bulldogs in digs with 10 while also grabbing one kill and one block assist. Alexis Bauer had nine digs and two assists while Casey Garvey served up four aces and had three digs. Elizabeth Neisler had four kills, one dig, one block solo and three block assists while Sarah Gardner had one kill, one ace and four digs.
Davidson was led by Sarabeth Peele who tallied 15 kills, four digs and two aces. Madison Benedict added nine digs while Anna Bradbury led in assists with 24 and Molly Crenshaw posted a team-high 12 digs.
Samford will hit the road next week as it takes its first conference road trip of the season to North Carolina. The Bulldogs will take on Western Carolina on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT before meeting up with Appalachian State at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Davidson took the first lead of the match on a kill by Peele, but Samford quickly responded with a kill by Stangohr to tie the score. The Bulldogs then fell behind by three before eventually fighting back to tie the score at eight. The Wildcats then went on a 4-1 run to take a three-point lead but Samford quickly answered back with its own 5-1 run to take the lead at 15-12. Davidson got back within one but Samford forged ahead and pushed the lead out to seven, going on to win, 25-18.
A kill from Bettinger got the Bulldogs on the board first in set two but Davidson's Madison Benedict answered back with a kill of her own to tie the score. Samford soon took a five-point lead with the help of kills by Gadberry and Bettinger, an ace by Fountain and a couple of Wildcat errors. Davidson took its first lead on a 4-0 run after Samford had owned a 14-12 lead. A kill by Fountain tied the score at 15 but after two more ties, the Wildcats took over and went on to win, 25-21.
After the 10-minute break, Samford came out blazing, ready take the lead back and defend home court. A kill by Stangohr and a Wildcat error gave the Bulldogs the early 2-0 lead and after Davidson got on the board due to a Samford service error, the Bulldogs when on a 6-2 run to take a five-point lead and force Davidson to burn its first timeout. The Wildcats scored a kill out of the break, but Samford would not let up, pushing its lead out to eight and forcing another timeout. Two more points were scored by the Wildcats after the timeout, but Samford put together a 10-5 run to win the third set, 25-15.
The Bulldogs completely dominated the fourth set, scoring eight straight points before Davidson finally got on the board. A 10-4 run soon had Samford up by 15 points. The Wildcats would only be able to score six more points but held Samford at match-point for five straight points. Samford finally sealed the deal on a kill by Stangohr, winning the final set, 25-10.
Furman 3, College of Charleston 1
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Junior libero Paige Johnson (Sleepy Hollow, Ill.) posted a career-high 22 digs and sophomore middle blocker Elyse Chubb (Peachtree City, Ga.) had 11 kills as the College of Charleston (7-9, 3-1) fell to Furman (11-3, 4-0) 3-1 Sunday afternoon in a Southern Conference match at the Carolina First Arena. The Paladins took the match by scores of 19-25, 27-25, 25-22 and 25-17.
The Cougars came out strong in the first set as they built leads of 7-3 and 15-10 before seeing the Paladins narrow the gap to 18-16. Kills by junior right side hitter Ginny Phillips (Raleigh, N.C.) and junior outside hitter Whitney Russell (Decatur, Ga.) then keyed three straight points for CofC that pushed their lead to 21-16. Following a Furman timeout, the Cougars used a pair of kills from senior outside hitter Emily Sawin (New Lenox, Ill.) to polish off a 25-19 victory and go up 1-0 in the match.
It would be a closely contested affair in the second set as the teams were separated by no more than three points until the Paladins took a 13-9 lead. Five Furman errors and four kills by the College of Charleston then gave the Cougars a 17-13 lead before the defending Southern Conference tournament champions rallied to knot the score at 23-23.
The teams would then exchange the next four points to keep it tied, this time at 25-25, before back-to-back kills by sophomore right side hitter Kelly Kirby and freshman middle blocker Caroline Adams gave the Paladins a 27-25 victory.
Furman would continue their strong play at the start of the third set as they opened with a 5-0 run and would maintain that advantage at 15-10. At that point, the Cougars responded with a 6-1 run of their own to tie the set at 16-16. Both teams managed consecutive points over the next several plays to deadlock at 20-20 before a 5-2 run, fueled by three errors and a pair of Paladin kills, gave Furman a 25-22 set victory and 2-1 lead in the match.
With the opportunity to close out the match, the Paladins took advantage as they fought through several early ties, including one at 11-11, before mounting a 14-6 run to secure a 25-17 win in the fourth set. In that deciding run, Furman notched six kills and a pair of service aces.
Caroline Adams led the Paladin's attack with a match-high tying 11 kills, .391 hitting percentage and six blocks while Kelly Kirby finished with 10 kills and 10 digs. Sophomore middle blocker Alexis Shaffer added 11 kills and senior setter Kelsey Salava had 40 assists and 10 digs to pace the offense.
Defensively, senior libero Stephanie Smith posted 13 digs and sophomore setter Carolyn Nicoletti added nine digs. Freshman outside hitter Chandler Ambrester finished with eight kills and four blocks while freshman outside hitter Natalie Braun had seven kills and nine digs.
Elyse Chubb's 11 kills paced the College of Charleston while Emily Sawin and Sarah Havel each added 10 kills apiece and junior setter Cole Dawley (Charleston, S.C.) finished with 37 assists, 12 digs and five kills. On defense, Paige Johnson's 22 digs set a career-high and were a match-high and senior middle blocker Jennifer Darty (Orlando, Fla.) notched nine blocks for the second straight match. She also added four kills and four digs.
The Cougars begin a stretch of four games on the road when they travel to Georgia Southern and Davidson from October 10-11. Both of those games are slated for a 2 p.m. first serve.
NOTES
The loss is only the second SoCon defeat at home for the College of Charleston since 2001 ... their last SoCon loss came on October 27, 2007 when the Appalachian State Mountaineers notched a 3-1 victory ... the only other such loss during that time came when Elon posted a 3-2 victory on October 15, 2006.
UNC Greensboro 3, Western Carolina 1
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Senior Emily Lindborg delivered a season-high 15 kills and hit an impressive .500 in the match as UNC Greensboro defeated Western Carolina, 3-1, on Sunday afternoon in Fleming Gymnasium.
The Spartans improved to an even 9-9 on the season and 2-2 in SoCon play, while the Catamounts fell to 3-15 this year and 0-4 in league action.
"This makes two days in a row that the girls have played at a consistent high level," said head coach Patrick Nicholas. "We are beginning to find our identity as a team and are improving in every facet of the game. Emily (Lindborg), Caley (Redden) and Billi (Baker) all had monster matches today, especially Emily. Ali (Beaudway) also stepped up to fill in for Kayren and Ari (Lysacek) did a good job of running the offense and distributing the ball."
Lindborg's 15 kills paced the Spartans offensively while Caley Redden added 12 kills and also had 11 digs for her seventh double-double of the season. Billi Baker also had a tremendous game as she narrowly recorded a triple-double after her nine kills, nine digs and 10 blocks. Ari Lysacek also had her seventh double-double of the season after having 48 assists and 11 digs.
The Spartans started off a little sluggish in the first set. With the Spartans up 9-7, the Catamounts went on a 10-4 run to take a 17-13 lead. UNCG rallied back to tie the match at 18, but it wasn't enough as Western Carolina pulled away late to win the set, 25-22.
UNCG came out inspired in the second set and led the entire way after jumping out to an early 5-0 lead. The Catamounts were able to pull within 18-13, but the Spartans won six of the final seven points to take the set, 25-15, on a kill by Luciana Shafer.
Western Carolina scored the first point in the third set, but that was the only lead they would have the entire set as UNCG took the next five points. The Spartans went ahead 14-6 on a Kayleigh Knerr service ace midway through the set as they cruised to win the set, 25-17.
The Spartans fell behind early in the fourth and final set, 12-9. The Catamounts continued to lead later in the set, 17-16, before UNCG rallied to end the match. The Spartans won the final nine points of the match, capped off by Lindborg's kill on match-point to give UNCG the set, 25-16.
The Spartans return to action on Wednesday as they host rival Elon at 7 p.m. in Fleming Gymnasium.