Sept. 12, 2008

Final Stats

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ---- The Samford University volleyball team fell to Alabama Friday afternoon in its first match of the Crimson Tide Invitational. The Crimson Tide swept the Bulldogs (25-21, 25-20, 25-22) in three of the closest sets that the Bulldogs have played all year. Samford is now 6-2 on the season while the Tide is 5-2.

"You cannot fault our effort today, or our determination," Samford head coach Derek Schroeder said. "Alabama played a very strong match. In our only other loss on the season, we had some frustration but today we just fought for every point. We will learn how to execute better one some off those plays after 20 and grow from this loss."

Sara Sears led the Bulldogs with 12 kills while hitting .308, and Rachel Gadberry led in hitting with a .455 percentage while grabbing seven kills and one block assist. Ashley Adams added 10 kills and four digs, while Sheriden Stangohr contributed six kills and three digs.

Hillary Fountain dished out 38 assists and posted four aces and two kills while Courtney Gay grabbed 11 digs, five assists and one ace. Samantha Bland posted five kills and six digs, and Kirstein Sosnowski added two kills and one block assist. Sarah Gardner also added two aces, five digs and one kill.

The Bulldogs continue play at 5 p.m. tonight against the Racers of Murray State. Follow the action via live stats on www.rolltide.com and find a full recap and results on www.samfordsports.com following the completion of the match.

Alabama 3, Samford 0

Samford came out blazing in the first set, scoring four straight points kills by Gadberry, Bland and Sosnowski and a service ace by Gardner. The Bulldogs held that lead for most of the first set but Alabama would come back and tie the score at 14. Samford took a timeout and immediately came out and took the lead back, but Alabama was not finished, charged ahead and took over the four-point lead, winning set one by a score of 25-21.

The second set was close in the very beginning, each team trading points. Samford eventually took a two-point lead but Alabama crawled back to tie the score and take a three-point lead. The Bulldogs fought back to tie the score two more times before going ahead by one on a kill by Sears, but the Tide came back and took over by three. Samford took a timeout to regroup, but Alabama just would not give up and went on to win set two, 25-20.

Set three started out similarly to set two, with each team trading points and fighting through a tie on just about every point. The Tide eventually took at two-point lead but not for long as the Bulldogs fought hard and took a two-point lead on four consecutive kills by Adams. Alabama threatened several times, getting within one, but Samford held on to lead by two. When the Tide tied the score at 17, Samford took a timeout. The Bulldogs fought for a one-point lead through two more ties before Alabama took a one-point lead. Samford crawled back within one but Alabama would go on to win the third set, 25-22.