Oct. 9, 2009

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford University volleyball team takes to the road this weekend for the first time in two weeks as it travels to North Carolina on its first Southern Conference road trip of the season. The Bulldogs will meet up with Western Carolina on Saturday and Appalachian State on Sunday. Both matches start at 1 p.m. CT.

After the Bulldogs started the season with the Samford Invitational at home, they spent the three weeks on the road taking on tough non-conference opponents, including three NCAA Tournament teams. Although a non-conference road setting offers challenges of its own, league road matches hold much higher stakes. Besides fighting for a place at the top of the league standings in order to get one of four spots in the conference tournament, players are right in the thick of school life, and that includes everything from tests to group meetings.

"We have discussed being prepared to battle for points this week and practiced accordingly" Samford head coach Derek Schroeder said. "Tuesday's practice was the best of the year and that preparation should lead to good things this weekend. I think these road trips are very difficult because school is just starting to get hard and the season is just starting to get long. The non-conference road trips are so early in the season that other factors do not play as big a role."

This weekend will be Samford's fifth and sixth matches in Southern Conference play, and Western Carolina and Appalachian State are only the second and third North Division opponents the Bulldogs have faced so far.

"Western Carolina, under a new coach, is going to run a very quick offense and play very a similar style to what we play," Schroeder said. "Appalachian State always gives us fits because they match up very well at the net with us and against our style of play. Our motivation going in will be to start North Division play undefeated and gain asmall cushion leading into the second half of conference play."

Samford (10-7, 4-0 SoCon) comes off a week in which they secured two more conference wins and maintained its undefeated status in Pete Hanna Center. The Bulldogs have won 21 matches in the arena since the move from Seibert Hall at the end of the 2007 season. The Bulldogs swept North Division foe Chattanooga Wednesday before defeating Davidson on Sunday by a score of 3-1.

Samford is led by September's SoCon Player of the Month Allie Bettinger. The freshman outside hitter leads the Bulldogs in kills with 3.35 per set while averaging just over two digs per set. She also leads in aces alongside junior setter Hillary Fountain. The pair has served up 16 aces each so far this season.

Fountain has dished out a team-high 9.03 assists per set while averaging 2.42 digs per set. Freshman libero Alexis Bauer leads the Bulldogs in digs with 3.76 per set. Senior middle blocker Sheriden Stangohr leads in hitting with a .287 hitting percentage and averages a team-high 1.30 blocks per set. Stangohr only committed three errors last week and hit over .500 against both Chattanooga and Davidson.

Western Carolina (3-16, 0-5) enters this weekend on an eight-match skid. The Catamounts have only won one of their last ten matches, and recently fell to Furman on Wednesday in a 3-0 sweep. Western Carolina has been swept in three of its last five losses, all to conference opponents.

Amanda Karr leads the Catamounts in kills with 2.41 per set while Carrie Minogue leads in hitting with a .196 hitting percentage as well as aces (22) and blocks (46). Katie Hennessey has dished out a team-high 7.18 assists per set while Liz Rondone averages 3.42 digs per set.

The Bulldogs lead the all-time series with the Catamounts, 5-4. Last season, Samford swept Western Carolina in both of its meetings.

Appalachian State (6-12, 2-2 SoCon) comes off a winless weekend, falling to UNC Greensboro and Elon on the road. The Mountaineers have won three of their last five, with two of those wins coming at home. After taking a 3-2 victory over East Tennessee State, they opened conference play with a five-set win over The Citadel followed by a sweep of Western Carolina.

The Mountaineers are led by Maja Jechorek, who averages 2.98 kills per set while Becca Norris follows with two kills per set and leads in hitting with a .270 percentage. Kasey Sauls leads in assists with 8.88 per set while Cassie Engelgau posts 4.27 digs per set and Caroline Sedon boasts 1.28 blocks per set.

Last season was the first time Samford and Appalachian State had competed against each other. The Mountaineers visited Birmingham early in the conference season and the Bulldogs won, 3-1. Later in the season, Samford traveled to Boone, N.C., and secured the North Division title with a 3-2 win over the Mountaineers.

Both matches can be followed via live stats at www.catamountsports.com and www.goasu.com. A full recap and results will be available on www.samfordsports.com upon the completion of each match.