Volleyball Finishes Conference Opening Weekend With Win At Tennessee-Martin :: Bulldogs go 2-0 in first weekend of conference play

Sept. 15, 2007

MARTIN, Tenn. ---- The Samford volleyball team finished out its first conference weekend going undefeated against opponents Murray State and UT Martin. The Bulldogs (7-4, 2-0 OVC) grabbed their second win of the weekend over UT Martin Saturday, charging back from two games down to defeat the Skyhawks, 3-2 (29-13, 19-30, 32-30, 30-28, 15-8).

"It was great for our team's confidence to come back from two down and finish with a five game match," Samford head coach Michelle Durban said. "It was also good for us to get two road wins in conference play and I think Angela (Dempski) and Sheriden (Stangohr) playing as well as they did, that help us a lot."

Sophomore middle blocker Sheriden Stangohr led the Bulldogs in the victory over the Skyhawks. She notched two new career highs in the match as she had 40 attempts and three block solos. Stangohr also added 18 kills, four digs, and three block assists while also leading in hitting with a .350 percentage.

Samford also had two Bulldogs post double-doubles in Saturday's match. Freshman outside hitter Samantha Bland grabbed her fourth double-double of the season while junior outside hitter Sara Sears posted her third. Bland ended the match with 11kills, 10 digs, two assists, two aces and one block assists. Sears had 14 kills, 14 digs, two assists, two aces and three block assists.

Freshman setter Hillary Fountain reached a new career high in assists with 61 while junior Libero Courtney Gay led Samford in digs with 26. Gay also served up two aces and Fountain grabbed three kills and 13 digs. Senior middle blocker Angela Dempski had another great game for the Bulldogs, grabbing 14 kills while hitting .235 and posting five block assists, four digs and one assists.

Junior middle blocker Kirstein Sosnowski added five kills, four block assists and three digs while sophomore Alyssa Trimpe, who has been out with an injury, played in one game and contributed two block assists.

Samford continues its conference road stint with a mid-week game this Wednesday, Sept. 19, at defending conference champion Jacksonville State. Match play gets underway at 7 p.m. in Pete Matthews Coliseum.

Samford 3, UT Martin 2

In game one, the Skyhawks committed two errors to give Samford the first two points of the game, before Bland and Sosnowski added two points of their own to put Samford on top 4-2. UT Martin caught up to tie the game at four but Dempski would put the Bulldogs back on top with a kill. The game was tied four more times before Samford broke away with the lead. The Bulldogs lead by as much as six, before Martin charged back to bring it within three and eventually tied the game. The end of game one was close, each team fighting for every point. It was tied for four straight points but the Skyhawks emerged the winner, taking game one 31-29.

It was all UT Martin action in the second game and it began as the Skyhawks jumped out to an early three point lead. The Bulldogs quickly caught up and tied it at four on a block by Sosnowski and Stangohr, a kills by Sosnowski and another block by Dempski and Trimpe. However, UT Martin would take over and push the lead out to 13. Samford just could not get back into the game and the Skyhawks won game two, 30-19.

The Bulldogs were determined not to go home in after three games without a win, so they came out in the third game ready to take over. Game three started out close but Samford steadily pulled away and soon led by six in the middle of the game. UT Martin charged back to tie the game at 29 and with a Skyhawk error the Bulldogs sat on game point. A kill by Martin's Taylor Noland tied the game at 30 but the Bulldogs answered back with kills by Bland and Sears to take game three, 32-30.

A service ace by Gardner landed Samford the first point of the fourth game, and after being tied with the Skyhawks for the next three points, Samford pulled away and charged ahead. The Bulldogs led by as much as four before UT martin caught up and tied the game at 17. Samford jumped ahead again but the game would be tied three more times before the Bulldogs could pull away and win game four, 30-28.

After three ties early in game five, the Bulldogs decided it was time to wrap this in red and blue. With the game tied at six, Samford forged ahead to take a seven point lead and win, 15-8.