Sept. 13, 2001

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford volleyball team finally gets to play at home. After two weekend tournaments on the road, the Bulldogs will see their first action at Seibert Hall on Friday and Saturday in the 2001 State Farm/Samford Classic.

The Bulldogs (1-7) will square off against Belmont University in what will double as the Atlantic Sun opener for both schools at 1 p.m. on Friday. Samford will play Tennessee State at 8:30 p.m. Friday night. A full day of volleyball action will begin at 10:30 Friday morning when South Alabama and Birmingham-Southern open the tournament.

The Tournament will continue on Saturday, Belmont will play Birmingham Southern to begin the day at 9 a.m. and South Alabama will Tennessee State at 11 a.m. Samford will face Birmingham Southern at 2 p.m. and South Alabama at 7 p.m.

Samford went 1-3 last week at the Magnolia Tournament hosted by the University of Mississippi. The Bulldogs defeated Ole Miss but lost to Southern Miss., Tennessee Martin, and Arkansas State. Senior Whitney Miller is 26 kills away from reaching the 1,000 milestone for her career.

Birmingham-Southern (2-5) will be trying to snap a four-match losing streak this weekend. The Panthers have been led by freshman setter Kyndall Waters, a Homewood High product averaging 10.67 set assists per game. Fellow freshman Rachel Malmborg (3.17 kpg.), Hoover product Lora Doblar (1.68 kpg.) and Stephanie Harrington (.74 blocks per game) are seeing plenty of playing time. Senior hitter Miljana Lazarevic (3.14 kpg.) and sophomore Danielle Graff (3.09 kpg.) are providing the leadership for Coach Tonya Charland's first season as a head coach.

South Alabama (2-2) has had 10 days to prepare for the weekend's tournament. USA's last match was a 3-2 victory against Troy State on Sept. 4. Selena Gamble-Chidester set her career high for kills in that match with 29 . Holly Miller registered her second double-digit dig night and second seven or more block night vs. Troy State, the other two coming against UNC-Asheville on Sept. 1. USA will face three opponents for the first time in the school's history this weekend. The teams are Birmingham-Southern, Tennessee State and Belmont. The Jags have faced the tournament's host, Samford, 13 times in its history.

Belmont (2-4) is coming off a 1-2 showing at the Wendy's Classic hosted by Tennessee Tech. Kati Baumgartner earned All-Tournament Team honors in Cookeville. picking up 17 kills and 13 digs in a 3-1 win over Birmingham-Southern. Brittney Baggett and Kristin Moore are leading the Bruins with 59 kills each on the young season. Katie Nicholson currently has 2,007 assists, third in career assists. Nicholson could pass Lisa Elkins this weekend. She needs 73 assists to move into second place.

Tennessee State (1-3) picked up its first win of the season with a 3-2 victory over Morris Brown in the consolation game of the Jacksonville State tournament last weekend. TSU lost to Mercer and Jax State before defeating Morris Brown. Outside hitter LaKeisha Brown, from Tuscaloosa, was named to the All-Tournament team.