Oct. 30, 2009

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford University volleyball team will close out its five-match road swing this weekend when it travels to North Carolina. The Bulldogs will take on Elon on Saturday and UNC Greensboro on Sunday.

This weekend is sure to be a battle for the top spot in the Southern Conference North Division as Samford, the defending North Division Champion and preseason pick, currently sits in first place with both Elon and UNC Greensboro tied for second place in this week's league standings. Next week, Samford will host Appalachian State and Western Carolina, who are currently fourth and sixth in the conference standings.

"Obviously the next two weeks are of the utmost importance to winning the North Division," Samford head coach Derek Schroeder said. "If you had told me we would be in the driver's seat at this point in the season, I would have doubted it but we are. And accordingly, Elon and UNCG will come out playing hard this weekend to knock us off."

Last weekend was a strange one in Southern Conference play. All six teams in the North Division lost while all six from the South Division won. Samford showed its resiliency once again against Wofford on Saturday, winning a hard-fought five-set match. The Bulldogs then faced a tough Furman team on Sunday but fell, 3-1.

"After the weekend, I asked the team if they were now mature enough to look at those matches and decide what plays we should be able to execute that we are not right now," Schroeder said. "That level of execution was evident in both matches; the question is, do we have kids who will decide to elevate their play to that level?"

Samford continues to be lead by freshman Allie Bettinger and senior Sheriden Stangohr. Bettinger leads in kills with 3.22 per set and is third on the team in digs with 2.02 per set. Stangohr leads the Bulldogs in hitting with a .317 attack percentage while averaging 3.11 kills per set and 1.28 blocks per set. She also nationally ranked in that category is second on the team in aces with 27 on the year. Stangohr notched 1,000 kills in her career at Chattanooga last week and is the all-time career leader in block assists now with 398.

Junior Hillary Fountain still leads the offense with 8.95 assists per set while posting a team-high 28 aces on the year. Freshman Alexis Bauer leads the back row with 3.58 digs per set followed by Fountain with 2.24 per set.

Samford went 2-0 against Elon last year, defeating the Phoenix by a score of 3-1 at home and sweeping them on the road. The Bulldogs split matches with UNC Greensboro, each team winning in five sets at home. All three teams made the conference tournament last season, and are looking to do the same this year. However, the tournament field has been narrowed for eight teams to four teams due cost constraints, which makes the next two weeks even more important for each team.

Elon and Greensboro visited the Pete Hanna Center back in September for the opening weekend of Southern Conference play. Samford defeated the Spartans in four sets and the Phoenix in five - the Bulldogs' 18th and 19th consecutive wins in the Hanna Center. However, this time Samford is on the road, not in front of a home crowd.

"Both Elon and UNC Greensboro are good teams, and better than they were when we beat them at our place," Schroeder said. "These two matches scare me because both opponents have everything to gain and the comfort of their home gyms."

Elon (19-5, 6-4 SoCon) comes off a tough five-set loss to College of Charleston on Sunday after sweeping The Citadel on Saturday. The Phoenix have only five losses on the year; four of those have come to conference opponents. Elon opened its regular season with an 11-match win streak and have won four of its last five matches.

The Phoenix are lead by Traci Stewart, who averages 2.64 kills per set while hitting .256 on the year. Emily Regan is Elon's assists leader with 8.14 per set while also averaging 1.67 digs per set. She also has served up 29 aces this season. Ali Deatsch averaged 3.77 digs per set to lead the Phoenix back row while Caroline Lemke leads in blocks with 1.09 per set, 17 block solos on the year and 89 block assists.

UNC Greensboro (14-11, 6-4 SoCon) comes off a winless weekend in conference play. The Spartans fell to the College of Charleston on Saturday, 3-1, before being upset by The Citadel in a sweep on Sunday. UNCG bounced back with a sweep of North Carolina Central on Tuesday, but are now focused on conference play this weekend.

Caley Redden and Emily Lindborg lead the Spartans in kills with 2.50 and 2.40 per set, respectively. Lindborg also leads the starters in hitting percentage with a .253 average while also leading in blocks per set with 0.89. Ari Lysacek averages .9.56 assists per set for the Spartans while Catherine Hanners and Kayleigh Knerr lead the back row with 4.17 and 3.58 digs per set, respectively.

Both matches will be available via lives stats and video streaming through links on the Samford Volleyball schedule page. A full recap and results will be available as well on www.samfordsports.com upon the completion of each match.