Oct. 10, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford University volleyball team will host Furman and Wofford this Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 11-12, as it continues Southern Conference play. The Bulldogs will be looking for their first-ever win over Furman in a series of eight meetings while they meet Wofford for the first time in Samford volleyball history. The pair of matches will be in conjunction with a university-wide Family Weekend.

The Bulldogs (16-2, 5-0 SoCon) look to continue their so far successful season in league play. Samford remains undefeated against conference opponents and nabbed its 10th consecutive win for the 2008 season against Chattanooga on Wednesday night. The streak is the longest for the program since 1991, when Samford won eight straight.

Having defeated Appalachian State in four sets last Saturday, Samford earned back-to-back 3-0 sweeps of Western Carolina (Sunday) and Chattanooga (Wednesday). The Bulldogs lead the conference in every category except blocks and digs while senior outside hitter Ashley Adams leads the conference in kills per set and hitting percentage and sophomore setter Hillary Fountain leads in assists per set.

"Right now, that says that our team is passing the ball, lights out," Samford head coach Derek Schroeder said. "All of this offensive success has been due to our first contact, serving and passing. I stressed that from day one in preseason. Courtney Gay, Sarah Gardner, and Samantha Bland deserve a ton of credit for the product our offense has become. They have been solid and have put up great passing numbers the past four weeks."

The Bulldogs' success also extends beyond the Southern Conference. Samford continues to be ranked among the nation's best in several categories. Fountain and junior defensive specialist Sarah Gardner ranked 25th and 36th, respectively, in aces per set while three Bulldogs - senior middle blocker Kirstein Sosnowski (26th, .384), Adams (27th, .384) and junior middle blocker Sheriden Stangohr (40th, .368) - rank among the top 40 in hitting percentage. Adams is also 15th in kills per set.

As a team, Samford is ranked 19th in the nation in aces per set (1.80), 13th in assists per set (13.10), fifth in hitting percentage, 18th in kills per set and 11th in match win-loss percentage.

Furman (11-7, 4-1 SoCon) is one of three league teams who have lost only one match or less, in the company of undefeated squads Samford and College of Charleston. The Paladins have won four straight matches, including most recently sweeps over UNC-Greensboro and Elon. Furman is ranked 40th in the nation in blocking, averaging 2.45 blocks per set. Senior middle blocker Nicole Palazzo leads the Paladins and is currently ranked 39th in the country in blocks per set (1.23). Palazzo was also named this week's SoCon Player of the Week for volleyball and was SoCon Player of the Year as a sophomore in 2006.

"I expect Furman to be our toughest test in SoCon play to date," Schroeder said. "They have a former Player of the Year in the middle and a very dominant outside. We are preparing on a short week with shorter practices but sustained intensity. To be successful, we feel we need to keep the pressure on them the entire match."

Before coming to Samford, Schroeder was an assistant for the Furman volleyball program from 2003-07.

"Anyone who knows me knows how grateful I am to Michelle (Young) at Furman and their athletic department for giving me my first opportunity in NCAA coaching," Schroeder said. "Michelle, across the net, and some of the girls still there that I helped recruit, are still very dear to me. I wish them the best - maybe just not this one day of the year."

Wofford (11-8, 1-3 SoCon) comes off a weekend in which they fell to Elon in four sets and UNC-Greensboro in three sets. Wofford ranks in the top three of several categories in league statistics. The Terriers have held their opponents to a .168 hitting percentage so far this season, the third lowest among SoCon teams. Wofford is also third in assists (11.10 aps), kills (12.36 kps), service aces (1.50 saps) and digs (16.06 dps). Nationally, Wofford ranks 28th the country in digs per set. The Terriers' senior libero Brittney Thompson is 25th in the country and second in the conference in the same category.

"I expect Wofford to try and turn the match into a defensive battle of attrition, hoping to frustrate our offensive system and individual hitters," Schroeder said. "We took a 30-minute chunk of practice yesterday addressing our offense and how to be successful against a smaller but defensive minded team."

Match play with the Paladins begins at 7 p.m. in the Pete Hanna Center on Saturday, following the football game against Appalachian State. The Bulldogs and Terriers will then meet on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. to wrap up weekend play. Samford volleyball is also sponsoring "Father-Daughter Weekend", in which father-daughter pairs are invited down to the floor after the Wofford match to play against the Samford team and coaches.

Admission to all matches is free and a full recap and results will be available on www.samfordsports.com upon the completion of each match.