College of Charleston 3, North Florida 0
CHARLESTON, S.C. - The College of Charleston volleyball team blew past the North Florida Ospreys with a 3-0 win in their first match of the Holiday Inn Charleston Riverview Invitational Friday night at Carolina First Arena (25-14, 25-16, 25-23).
The Cougars used a balanced attack as seven different players finished with at least three kills, led by six from junior middle blocker Sarah Havel. Fellow junior middle blocker Elyse Chubb finished with five kills and no errors to go along with a match-high five of the Cougars 13 blocks.
In the first set the Cougar (8-4) defense was too much for the Ospreys (2-9) to handle as they forced their opponents into more errors (10) than kills (8). Behind three kills from senior Whitney Russell CofC hit .318 while the Ospreys were limited to a hitting efficiency of -.057.
In the second set the Cougars raised their offensive level a notch converting 28 attempts into 13 kills with just one error (.429 hitting percentage). Six different players registered at least one kill as CofC won the set 25-16.
In the final set the Cougars jumped out to a 6-1 lead and never looked back. With the match in hand, CofC head coach Jason Kepner was able to play almost his entire squad en route to a 25-23 set victory to close out the match.
The Cougars return to action tomorrow with two matches, beginning with a 1p.m. contest against Radford. Following that match the Cougars will battle Central Michigan to close out tournament play.
Appalachian State 3, Temple 1
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Appalachian State University volleyball was yet again victorious, as the Black and Gold earned a 3-1 win over Temple Friday afternoon in the opening match of the Tar Heel Volleyball Classic. With the win, ASU improves to an impressive 9-2 on the season, while the Owls fall to 2-8.
Unable to put the match away in the third set, the Black and Gold wasted no time getting down to business in what would be the fourth and final set, as the Apps earned a narrow 25-22 fourth set victory.
Action was close early on, but two kills by junior Maggie Seeds gave ASU the push it needed to jump on top 8-5.
Appalachian's offensive assault did not let up with Seeds and Kelly Rhein pacing the Apps' offensive unit, giving ASU the lopsided 16-11 lead.
Seeds had a stellar outing, as she ended the contest with 12 kills, to go along with two solo blocks and four block assists.
A kill by Alison Blasingame and a Temple error made the score 23-16 in Appalachian's favor, but Temple continued to rally and cut its deficit to just two points down 24-22.
Fortunately for the Mountaineers a final attack Owl attack error was all it took to propel the squad to the three-point win and 3-1 match victory.
ASU grabbed an early 3-1 advantage over Temple, but first set play was a battle as the score was tied on seven more occasions.
Even though the set was hotly contested, it was two Temple miscues that gave the Black and Gold the momentum they needed.
After the set was knotted at 12 all, the Apps posted an unstoppable run, outscoring TU 9-3, to go up 21-15.
Productive blocking, coupled with Temple errors and offensive contributions by Seeds, Kelly Rhein and a Lauren Brown ace helped put ASU in front.
Although dominant, Temple would not back down, coming back within three points at 21-18.
Two Temple errors however proved to be costly, and junior Anna Wagner served ASU to the win, registering back-to-back service aces to give Appalachian the 25-19 first set win.
Second set action got off to a rough start for the Mountaineers, but Appalachian was able to find its footing and rallied after falling behind 4-1.
Two kills by Rhein along with a Meghann Forshey kill and Forshey combining for a block assist with Caroline Sedon, gave ASU its first lead of the set up 6-4.
Forshey was yet again impressive on the offensive front, totaling a match-high 13 kills.
Forshey continued with her strong play as she had two kills to tie action at 15 apiece and keep ASU battling with Temple.
The Owls got on a roll however, and the outcome appeared bleak for ASU who found itself down 21-18.
Down but not out, Appalachian went on a 7-2 run in the waning plays of the set, with Seeds, Blasingame and Sedon all leading the way, and the Apps squeaked out a hard-fought 25-23 second set victory.
The third set saw the Black and Gold's early lead diminish and a 5-0 Temple run give the Owls a 12-7 edge.
Able to make a comeback of sorts, ASU tied play three more times, but Appalachian errors proved to be detrimental and Temple took the third set from the Apps.
Picking up its pace, ASU dominated the fourth set and grabbed its ninth win of the season, trouncing Temple 3-1.
Continuing with tournament action, the Mountaineers play two more matches tomorrow at the Tar Heel Volleyball Classic. ASU first battles tournament-host and Atlantic Coast foe North Carolina at 1 p.m.
Georgia Southern 3, Winthrop 0
STATESBORO, Ga. - On day two of the SpringHill Suites Invitational, the Georgia Southern Volleyball team defeated the Winthrop Eagles in dominant fashion, taking the match in three sets (25-20, 25-20, 25-23). An Eagle trio led the attack as Georgia Southern combined for a .352 attack percentage. The sweep pushed Georgia Southern back to .500 on the season with a 6-6 record, while Winthrop drops to 3-8.
"We played probably our best match this evening against a good opponent. We knew Winthrop would do some very good things coming into the match," said Head Coach Chad Callihan. "I'm really excited with how we executed this evening and hopefully we can keep it up over the next few days and continue to get better throughout the season."
For the 11th time this season, junior outside hitter Bethany Sanford led the Eagles in kills. Sanford hit .448 with 14 kills and one error on 29 attempts, and notched a match-high 16 digs. Parker Small followed with 13 kills for a .500 clip. Sophomore setter Kate Van Dyke serviced the attack with 45 assists to go along with eight digs and one kill.
Leading the way for Winthrop was Kaley Viola and Carolyn Weed, each posting 11 kills, while Sara Felts added 10. Kelsey Hall recorded 27 assists and Kelsey Harrison posted 13 digs.
Winthrop managed to keep a tight hold on the Eagles to open the first frame, erasing a two-point deficit, knotting the score at 5-all. But Moriah Bellissimo sparked a trio of Georgia Southern kills that handed the Eagles an 8-5 lead. Winthrop closed to within two points, but Georgia Southern held strong, pulling away with a comfortable 16-10 lead. Georgia Southern closed the set, 25-20 using 16 kills to take the early match lead.
Set two witnessed both teams battling back-and-forth throughout with neither team leading by more than three points until the 22-19 mark. A Hannah Nelson kill and Winthrop attack error handed set point to Georgia Southern at 24-19. Winthrop fought off one set point on a Viola kill, but Nelson sealed the set win with a kill for a 25-20 score. Georgia Southern sided out at a 71 percent clip and hit .372 for the frame. Nelson led the Eagles with seven kills, hitting .600 with only one error.
Winthrop held the early lead in what became the final set when Georgia Southern fought back, claiming its final lead at 9-8. Using a 3-0 run, the Eagles took an 18-14 advantage, but a late Winthrop run pulled the set score to 23-22. Small gave Georgia Southern match point with a kill, but once again Winthrop was able to hold Georgia Southern off with a Carolyn Weed kill. In true fashion, Bellissimo opened and closed the match for the Eagles, giving them their first and last kill of the match, sealing the win with a 25-23 third set victory.
Georgia Southern plays two matches tomorrow, opening the day against East Tennessee State at 10 a.m. and closes out the tournament against Charleston Southern at 7 p.m. For a full tournament schedule and complete tournament information, please visit the tournament website.
UNCG 3, Morgan State 0
GREENSBORO, N.C. - UNCG hit a season-high .382 as a team and never trailed the entire match as the Spartans swept Morgan State, 3-0 (25-15, 25-12, 25-7), on Friday evening in the first game of the Spartan Spiketacular for the host school.
The Spartans improved to 10-3 on the season, while the Bears slipped to 1-11 this year.
"It's a good win for us," said coach Patrick Nicholas. "I thought our offense was really clicking. We really wanted to work on our offense and our side-out efficiency, especially on the first ball. I thought we paid a lot of attention to it tonight. We attacked different areas of the net between the antennae and got everyone involved."
Junior Ariel Newman led the Spartan attack on Friday as she posted a match-high 11 kills and sophomore Olivia Humphries added 10 kills and a career-high .600 hitting percentage. Fellow sophomore Ari Lysacek had 19 assists and a team-high eight digs.
Ngebui Chafeh had four kills for the Bears, while four others had three kills apiece. Dina Beamon also had a match-high 12 digs for Morgan State.
The Spartans came out of the gates attacking as they took an early 5-1 lead on a kill by Caley Redden. UNCG would go on to extend its lead to as many as 10 points at 16-6 before finishing off the set with a pair of kills from Humphries to win the set, 25-15.
UNCG kept its foot on the gas pedal as once again the Spartans took control early by jumping out to a 10-3 lead on another kill by Humphries. After a Morgan State timeout, the Spartans continued to attack and took a 19-8 lead on a Lysacek service ace to force the Bears to take another timeout. Morgan State just wasn't able to recover as the Spartans took the set, 25-12.
After intermission, UNCG took a 5-0 lead, but the Bears held strong as the Spartans led just 11-6 midway through the set. That was as close as Morgan State would get though, as UNCG ran off 14 of the final 15 points to take the set, 25-7, and win the match.
The Spartans return to the court on Saturday as they face Norfolk State at 10:30 a.m. in Fleming Gymnasium before facing Gardner-Webb at 7:30 p.m.
Furman 3, East Carolina 0
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Sophomore Natalie Braun hit .412 with ten kills and ten digs to lead the Furman volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-20, 25-10, 25-18) win over East Carolina Friday night in the Paladins' opening match of the Georgetown Classic in Washington, D.C.
Despite a close first set, Furman took the lead at the beginning of the match and never let the Pirates gain an advantage. The Paladins hit .314 for the match, with a .417 attack percentage off 20 kills and only five errors in the third set. Furman held East Carolina to a .133 hitting percentage for the evening.
Freshman Sarah McCarthy recorded a team-high 30 assists plus three service aces, while junior Kelly Kirby tallied eight kills, eight assists, nine digs, and three service aces in the victory.
Furman (4-6) will play Binghamton Saturday morning at 11 a.m. followed by a match against host Georgetown at 7 p.m.
The Citadel 3, Hampton 1
ORANGEBURG, S.C. - The Citadel Volleyball team extended its consecutive match winning streak to three after a 22-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-16 win over Hampton on Friday afternoon. Led by Tatum Jestila's double-double (14 kills, 10 digs) and Blaine McAllister's 10 kills, the Bulldogs earned their fourth win of the season in the first match of the S.C. State Invitational.
Libero Kathryn Johnston, who finished with a team-high 11 digs, was also key in The Citadel's attack. Johnston, along with Jestila and six digs apiece by Jessica Maas and Rachael Farrell, gave the Cadets a 45-42 edge in digs. Jestila and McAllister, combined with six kills by Kaona Mercer, sparked a front row that accounted for 51 kills. The tandem of Alexa Dahlstrom (22 assists) and Erin Bucherl (21 assists) controlled the setter position. The Bulldogs head into a doubleheader tomorrow with a 4-8 overall record.
McAllister and fellow senior Amanda Beal provided an early cushion in the third set, moving the lead to 7-4 in the early stages. Hampton remained within three points of the lead before Maas' service game forced back-to-back attack errors and pushed the lead to 16-10. McAllister accounted for three of the final nine Bulldog points as The Citadel pulled away for the 25-16 match-clinching victory.
The battle between the two teams continued into the third set as both teams held two point leads over the first 20 points of game. With the score tied 16-16, Maas drove a kill past the Pirate defense to give the Dogs a lead they would not relinquish. Maas, in serve, combined a pair of Jestila kills with two attack errors to extend the lead to 23-17. Despite a Hampton run, which sliced the lead to 24-22, The Citadel closed out the set on a block by Mercer.
After falling to Hampton by a 25-22 decision in the opening set, The Citadel jumped out to an early 10-6 lead in the second game. Hampton rallied and scored six of the next eight points to tie the game at 12-12 following a service error. The two teams exchanged points and forced six ties before Jestila and Maas assisted on a block that gave the Cadets a 20-19 lead. The Pirates fell behind 23-20 before three straight points knotted the game for the final time. After a Bulldog timeout, kills by Jessica Maxwell and a Hampton attack error made for the second set win.
The Citadel continues S.C. State Invitational play on Saturday with matches against the host Bulldogs on Saturday morning at 9 a.m. The afternoon session concludes with a meeting against N.C. Central at 3 p.m.
For more information on Bulldog Volleyball, visit the official website of The Citadel Athletics at www.CitadelSports.com.
SIU-Edwardsville 3, Wofford 2
Wofford 3, USC Upstate 1
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Terriers women's volleyball team went split a pair of matches Friday in the Wofford College Invitational with a 3-2 loss (21-25, 25-14, 25-20, 19-25, 15-13) to Southern Illinois Edwardsville and 3-1 (25-17, 27-25, 19-25, 25-21) win over USC Upstate in Ben Johnson Arena.
With the split Wofford moved to 7-6 on the season and will return to action Saturday at 12:30 p.m. against Stetson.
In the team's first match against SIU-Edwardsville, Wofford turned a 9-9 tie into a 17-10 lead as Bekah Dorsey served six consecutive points and had two service aces. Rachel Woodlee also had two kills during the stretch. The Cougars closed the gap to 20-19, but a kill by Amanda Liguori, a Cougar attack error and a Liguori ace pushed the Terrier lead to 23-19. Wofford finished the set with a 25-21 advantage.
In set two, Wofford had an early three-point lead, but Southern Illinois Edwardsville flipped the lead as they took a 10-7 lead. The Cougars extended the lead to nine, 18-8. Wofford never got back into the match as Southern Illinois Edwardsville took the set 25-14.
Set two was much of the same story. The two teams traded points before the Cougars took control of the match with a 16-11 lead. Wofford would cut the lead to 20-18, but couldn't take the lead as they fell 25-20.
With the Terriers facing defeat in set four, they broke a 10-10 tie with a 4-1 run to take a 14-11 lead. The Cougars battled back to tie the set at 16 before a kill by Arden Anderson and back-to-back attack errors by the Cougars gave the Terriers a 19-16 lead. Wofford never trailed again in the set or relinquished to lead as they won the set 25-19. Byrd had four kills in the set and Reagan Styles had six digs.
In the decisive set five, the Terriers jumped out to an 8-2 lead. Catelyn Amende fired off three early kills during the opening points. However, Southern Illinois rallied with a 8-1 run to tie it up at ten. Wofford lost the next point, but tied the match up at 11 before the Cougars went on a three-point run to take control of the match with a 14-11 lead. Southern Illinois Edwardsville won the set 15-13 to take the match win.
Byrd paced the Terriers on offense with 14 kills. She was the only Terrier with double digit kills. Amende followed with nine kills. Dorsey had 23 assists and two service aces. Tara Gough handed out 17 assists in the match, while Styles collected 24 digs. Amanda Liguori added 15 digs. Amende led the team with seven block assists, while Anderson and Byrd had five block assists.
In Wofford's second match of the tournament the Terriers took on neighboring USC Upstate. Wofford took an early 10-6 lead in the opening set and went on to take the set 25-17. Wofford outhit Upstate .344 to .100 in set one. Amende tallied six kills for the Terriers.
In set two, the teams battled closely until the Spartans broke a 10-10 tie to take an 18-14 lead. Wofford didn't quit and battled back to tie the match at 23. The two teams traded the next four points until an Upstate attack error and Byrd kill gave the Terriers the 27-25 win.
Wofford took at early 6-2 set three with hopes of ending the match in three, but the Spartans tied the match at eight with a 4-2 run. Upstate turned the run into a 12-3 run as they took a 16-11 lead. The Spartans would win the set 25-19 to force a fourth set.
Upstate held a .268 hitting percentage compared to Wofford's .136 hitting percentage in the set.
In the fourth set, Wofford fell behind 8-5, but tied the match at nine two kills by Woodlee, a kill by Liguori and Byrd. The teams traded points and the match stayed intense, until Wofford broke a 14-14 tie with a 3-0 run. Liguori, Anderson and Byrd had kills to spark the Terriers. Wofford held the lead and never let Upstate pull closer than two points as they finished the set and the match with a 25-21 win.
Amende led the Terriers with 15 kills and a .375 hitting percentage. Byrd added 12 kills, and Liguori had 11 kills and 23 digs for her third double-double of the season. Her 23 digs was also a career-high for the freshman. Bekah Dorsey turned in her fifth double-double with a season-high 33 assists and 11 digs.
Eastern Michigan 3, Davidson 2
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Seniors Sarabeth Peele and Jorden Benedict each topped double figures with 14 and 11 kills, respectively, but the Eastern Michigan Eagles placed four hitters in double digits to secure the five-set (25-13, 17-25, 22-25, 25-9, 15-11) win over the Davidson Wildcats as the teams concluded the first day of play Friday night at the Nfinity Wildcat Classic at Belk Arena.
Peele and Benedict led the way for Davidson (6-4), who also got nine kills from junior Madison Benedict. Senior setter Hayley Lawson finished with 38 assists and nine digs, while junior libero Christine Perzinski paced the defense with 16 digs.
Kristen Baker finished with 13 kills with a .480 clip to lead EMU (11-1), who also got 11 kills from both Paige Roback and Jenn Swartz and 10 from Rachel Iaquaniello. Setter Ashley Short finished with 41 assists, and three Eagles were in double figures in digs, led by 17 from Haley Stein.
EMU jumped out to an early led in the opening set, winning the first five points, and building to a 25-13 win. The Wildcats, though, fought back to take a 12-6 lead in the second set as Peele rattled off six straight serves, and evened the match with a 25-17 win.
The teams battled throughout the fourth set, which featured 12 ties and four lead changes, before putting together a critical late-set run to claim the 25-22 win. With the game tied at 16, the 'Cats went ahead a point on an Eagle attack error, and took a 19-16 lead behind two more EMU errors. The Eagles, though, fought back and knotted the score at 21 before a kill from Madison Benedict. Iaquaniello tied the score again, but a kill from Peele and a crucial ace from freshman Caroline Brown gave the 'Cats a set-point chance and Peele put it away for the 25-22 win.
Davidson couldn't capitalize on the momentum, and EMU dominated the fourth set, putting together long runs en route to the 25-9 win to force a fifth set. The teams battled early, tied at 2-2, 3-3 and 4-4, before the Eagles started to pull away. A kill from Roback made it 10-6 in favor of the Eagles, but the Wildcats pulled within one on a 4-1 run. Trailing just 11-10, Cassie Sowers' putaway gave the Eagles some distance, and they closed out the 15-11 win with a 4-1 run.
Boise State defeated High Point, 3-1 (24-26, 25-23, 25-28, 25-14) in the opening game of the tournament.
Davidson returns to action tomorrow, taking on High Point at 12:30 p.m. and wrapping tournament play with Boise State at 7 p.m. Eastern Michigan and the Broncos open the second day of play with the 10 a.m. match, and the 4:30 p.m. match features High Point and Eastern Michigan.
Campbell 3, Elon 1
WILMINGTON, N.C. - Despite a double-double from senior Lauren Copenhagen, the Elon University volleyball team fell in four sets on Friday afternoon on day one of the UNC Wilmington Hilton Garden Inn Invitational, dropping a 3-1 (20-25, 25-22, 29-31, 15-25) decision to the Campbell Camels.
Elon drops to 7-6 on the year with the loss, while Campbell improves to 3-10 with the win.
"We worked a lot on passing and blocking this week in practice and I was very happy with how that has improved," said Elon head coach Mary Tendler. "Unfortunately, we made too many hitting errors to win the match today. We look to turn that around tomorrow."
Copenhagen finished tied for the team lead in kills with 11, while also tallying 14 digs.
Junior Caroline Lemke registered 11 kills in the loss, while junior Ali Deatsch led all players with 19 digs. Not far behind, senior Lizzie West recorded a season-high 15 digs for the Phoenix.
With the match knotted at 1-1 after the first two sets of the day, Elon found itself down five points, 22-17, late in the third set. However, the Phoenix battled back to tie the game at 22-all and gain momentum after a pair of Campbell errors and three kills in a row by sophomore Allison Johnson.
But after the two squads traded point-for-point to make it a 29-29 game, the Camels would eventually tally back-to-back points to win the set, 31-29, after an Elon error and kill from Campbell's Caitlin Bendy put the Phoenix behind, 2-1, in the match.
The Camels would carry the momentum into the fourth and final set of the match, closing the match on a 12-5 run to hand Elon the setback.
Elon out-blocked Campbell, 11-7.5 in the loss, but the Phoenix hit just .042 as a team against the Camels.
Elon concludes action in Wilmington tomorrow with a pair of matches versus UNC Wilmington and NC State.
Belmont 3, Chattanooga 0
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - In front of an energetic crowd of 320, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga volleyball team opened up its home slate at Maclellan Gym falling to Belmont in straight sets, 3-0 (25-20, 25-9, 25-22). Freshman outside hitter Jennifer Kuroski paced the Lady Mocs with 10 kills, while recording a season-high .300 hitting percentage.
"I am a very energetic player," said sophomore libero Paula Passmore. "And it felt great to have the fans. I would have like to think that we stepped up in the final set because of the energy from the crowd. They were able to help us. I wish that we could have done it the whole time, but we have a great team and there is a lot of potential."
Contributing to the offensive attack was sophomore middle blocker Ellie Kuhn, who compiled seven kills for a .667 hitting percentage and three assisted blocks, while sophomore right side Christina Teter recorded four kills.
"Coach [Lisa Rhodes] has done a great job this season in thinking about positive things after each game," said Kuhn. "There were a few positives in that game, but there is also a lot of improvement that needs to be made. We have to keep our heads up and be ready to put on a fight tomorrow."
Once again, Passmore led the match with 18 digs for the 11th time this season. Also adding to the defense was Kuroski with five digs along with senior Bailee Chastain and freshman Tess Kosycarz with three each.
"I just tried to push everyone as much as I could," said Passmore. "I try my best every game and I know that the team can feed off my defensive play. I do what it takes and know that the team appreciates it."
Senior middle blocker Courtney Barnes registered a match-high in block assists with four.
Chattanooga (3-9) and Belmont (5-8) battled in a tightly contested first set that saw both teams trading points until the Bruins closed out the set on a 6-1 run, 25-20. The Lady Mocs compiled their best hitting performance of the night connecting on 12 kills with only two mistakes for a .345 pct.
The second set was all Belmont as they took a 14-7 lead and then coasted to the 25-9 victory. The Bruins compiled seven service aces in the set along with 12 kills.
After a tough second set, Chattanooga rallied to end the third scoring on five of the final six points establishing momentum going into Saturday's doubleheader. The Lady Mocs did not give up in the set as they were down 21-15 and battled back to make it close at 25-22 feeding off the energy of the crowd.
"I personally and a lot of girls on the team love big crowds," said Kuhn. "It gets you pumped up and motivated inside. When you are standing there on the on court, you want to do it for yourself, the team and fans."
Chattanooga returns to the Maclellan Gym tomorrow at 11:30 with back-to-back matches against UCF and James Madison to close out the Country Inns & Suites Invitational. Following the volleyball matches, the Mocs football team takes on Eastern Kentucky at Finley Stadium with kickoff scheduled for 6 p.m.
The Lady Mocs continue a four-match home stand on Wednesday at 7 p.m. against East Tennessee State before starting Southern Conference action the following weekend.
Stephen F. Austin 3, Samford 1
Rice 3, Samford 1
HOUSTON ---- The Samford volleyball team dropped both of its matches Friday on the opening day of the Rice Invitational II. The Bulldogs fell in the morning match against Stephen F. Austin, 3-1 (19-25, 23-25, 25-17, 19-25), and lost by a score of 3-1 (12-25, 25-23, 24-26, 25-27) to Rice in the evening feature match.
Katie Murphy led the Bulldogs against SFA with 11 kills and five block assists. Allie Bettinger and Elizabeth Neisler followed with nine kills each. Bettinger also added 12 digs, an assist, a solo block and a block assist while Neisler also had one block assist.
Lyndsey Holt posted seven kills and five digs along with a solo block and a block assist while Hillary Fountain and Casey Garvey posted 22 assists each. Fountain added a kill, a block assist and two aces while Garvey also had nine digs and two aces.
Alexis Bauer led her team in digs with 15 while adding one assist and Taylor Palmer and Rachel Gadberry posted five kills each. Palmer also had two block assists while Gadberry had one block assist and two digs.
Allison Gideon and Mary Caitlin Bottles each tallied 10 kills while Gideon also added 28 assists and was two digs away from a triple-double with eight. Madison Hanlan led her team with 14 digs followed by Monica Pannone with 11. Sabrina Burns added seven kills and posted 10 block assists along with a solo block.
Against Rice, Bettinger posted her third double-double of the season with 11 kills and 15 digs along with a block assist and a set assist. Lauren Hutchinson led the Bulldogs with 13 kills and a .476 hitting percentage in her first match back from an illness that kept her out of play for the last week. She also added three block assists.
Fountain tallied 43 assists to go along with seven kills, three aces, three digs and a block assist. Holt also added seven kills while posting four digs, two block assists and an ace. Murphy had eight kills and three digs to go along with four block assists. Neisler had six kills, three block assists and a dig while Samantha Bland added eight digs, two aces and a kill. Garvey posted nine digs, three assists and a kill.
Ashleigh McCord led the Owls with 15 kills followed by Jordan Meredith and Nancy Cole with 14 and 12, respectively. Meredith Schamun posted a double-double with 45 assists and 13 digs while Tracey Lam led her team with 24 digs.
The Bulldogs will play Arkansas State for their final match of the tournament Saturday at 1 p.m. A full recap and box score will be available on www.samfordsports.com. Fans can also follow the action via live stats through links at the Samford volleyball schedule page.