Samford Volleyball Host Barber’s Classic, Drop First Match to Charlotte

--- Bulldogs go five games with 49ers ---

Sept. 15, 2006

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- In a nail-biting five-game second match of the Samford/Barber’s Classic, Samford (2-9) fell to the 49ers of Charlotte (8-5)by a mere score of 3-2.

Samford played tough for all five games but could not get a win out of the last game. Bulldog Head Coach Michelle Durban was pleased, however, with the progress of her team after the heart-wrenching painful loss to Birmingham-Southern on Tuesday night.

“I think from Tuesday to tonight, we got better,” said Durban, “and with a young team, that’s exactly what we want to do. We keep talking to them about how it’s a process, and we’ve got to continue that process. Tonight I felt like at least we were able to get into a game five. The next step it to be able to win a game five.”

Samford played hard in the first game, but could not keep up with the 49ers of Charlotte. They eventually fell to Charlotte, 30-21.

In game two, Samford came out strong, playing a close game with Charlotte. However, Samford would eventually take the lead and come out on top, 30-25.

Samford came out strong again in the third game, taking the early lead, but Charlotte charged ahead and gained the lead back. Charlotte took game three, 30-25.

The Bulldogs took the early lead in game four, and ran away with it, 30-19.

With Charlotte winning games one and three and Samford winning games two and four, the match was force into a fifth game.

In the tie breaking game five, Samford and Charlotte went back and forth claiming the lead several different times. However, it would be Charlotte that would walk away with the win, 15-11.

Sophomore Sara Sears led the team with 15 kills and 46 attempts. Freshman Sheridan Stangohr and Jackie Jaszcz lead the team in hitting percentage with .500 and .285, respectively. Freshman Sarah Gardner had 15 digs, and Jen Powers six block assists.

“Tonight Sara Sears did a much better job of keeping balls in play and getting kills at key times for us,” said Durban. “I think Alyssa Trimpe, especially since this is the first time she’s actually started a match, felt the intensity of the game and helped the team get off to a good start.

“I think the girls did a good job of following the game plan, in terms of blocking schemes. They were making changes within the game and I think that helped us in the areas of defense, especially blocks.”

In the first match of the Samford/Barber’s Classic, UNC-Asheville defeated Louisiana-Monroe in three straight games, 30-20, 30-23, 30-27.

Match play for the Samford/Barber’s Classic will continue tomorrow at 10:30 p.m., when UNC-Asheville takes on Charlotte. At 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., Louisiana-Monroe will play back-to-back matches against Samford and Charlotte, respectively. Samford will then wrap up the Samford/Barber’s Classic as they take on UNC-Asheville at 7 p.m.

*** SAMFORD BULLDOGS ***