Oct. 7, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford University volleyball team will hit the road this Wednesday for a midweek match at Chattanooga. The Bulldogs and Mocs will face off at 6 p.m. CT in Maclellan Gym on the Chattanooga campus.

Samford (15-2, 4-0 SoCon) is still off to its best start ever and tabbed its longest win streak since 1991 in its win Sunday over Western Carolina. The Bulldogs have won nine straight and are currently in first place in the conference and the north division. Prior to its win on Sunday, Samford defeated Appalachian State in four games on Saturday, in the first northern division match-up for the Bulldogs.

Samford is all over the NCAA Division I rankings this week, both as a team and individually. The Bulldogs are currently ranked 5th in hitting percentage (.308), 19th in aces per set (1.80), 13th in assists per set (13.10) and tied for 11th in win-loss percentage (.882) with a 15-2 record. Samford also jumped 18 spots in kills per set to 18th (14.05).

Also, sophomore setter Hillary Fountain is ranked fourth in the country in assists per set with 11.90 and moved up one spot to 25th in service aces with 0.51 aces per set (30 aces in 59 sets). Sophomore defensive specialist Sarah Gardner jumped eight spots to 36th in aces per set with 0.47 (27 aces is 57 sets).

Senior middle blocker Kirstein Sosnowski made her way onto the rankings, taking 26th in the country in hitting percentage with a .384 average (149-33-302) along with junior middle blocker Sheriden Stangohr who is ranked 40th in the country in hitting percentage with a .368 average (124-33-247). Senior outside hitter Ashley Adams is ranked 27th in the country in hitting percentage with a .384 average (224-42-474) and 15th in kills per set with 4.31. Chattanooga (8-10, 3-1 SoCon) is not a new opponent for Samford. This will be the 21st meeting of the two teams. Samford has won 11 out of those last 20 meetings, and have not lost to the Mocs since Nov. 9, 1999.

The Mocs are currently third in the north division of the Southern Conference. Chattanooga won two straight this weekend over Western Carolina and Appalachian State. They are led defensively by libero Lara Newberry, who is averaging 5.91 digs per set.

"Chattanooga is playing great right now at 3-1 in conference and third in our division," Samford head coach Derek Schroeder said. "We are looking to separate ourselves from them in division play."

Match play between Samford and Chattanooga begins at 6 p.m. CT. Follow all the action through live stats or video streaming on www.gomocs.com. A full recap and results will be available upon the completion of the match on www.samfordsports.com.