Nov. 6, 2009

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford University volleyball team will host its home finale this weekend as a part of Samford's Homecoming festivities. The Bulldogs will play Appalachian State on Saturday evening at following the football game versus Georgia Southern before wrapping up home play with Western Carolina on Sunday. The team will also honor its three seniors - Sarah Gardner, Katie Luckman and Sheriden Stangohr - in a ceremony before Sunday's match.

Samford (15-12, 9-4 SoCon) comes off a weekend that saw both ends of the spectrum. On Saturday, the Bulldogs suffered a tough 3-0 loss to Elon before bouncing back with a hard-fought win over UNC Greensboro. After a sluggish performance on Saturday, the Bulldogs rebounded with a fiery determination to walk away with the win.

"The grit and fire on Sunday came from a tough week of practice but was forged in the hearts of my players," Samford head coach Derek Schroeder said. "Many teams after that tough of a week and then a bad loss on Saturday would have found a reason to hide on Sunday but these kids came to fight on Sunday and I was as proud of them as I have been all year."

The Bulldogs remain at the top of the league standings after UNC Greensboro defeated Elon on Wednesday, keeping its postseason hopes alive while stopping Elon from tying Samford for first place. The Spartans and Phoenix now share the second place spot, both boasting 8-5 records in Southern Conference play.

Samford continues to be led statistically by freshman Allie Bettinger and senior Sheriden Stangohr. Bettinger ranks third in the Southern Conference in kills per set with 3.19 while averaging 2.03 digs per set as well. Stangohr is still ranked 31st in the country in blocks per set with 1.28 while she leads her team in hitting with a .303 percentage. She is second on the team in kills per set with 3.00 behind Bettinger and leads in aces with 28 as Samford is ranked 46th in the nation in aces per set (1.57).

Junior Hillary Fountain continues to lead in assists with 8.55 while averaging 2.28 digs per set and 1.03 kills per set. She is also second on the team in aces with 27 on the year. Freshman Alexis Bauer leads the back row with 3.51 digs.

Samford has faced both Appalachian State and Western Carolina once before this season. The Bulldogs traveled to North Carolina at the beginning of October. Samford visited Western Carolina first and walked away with a 3-0 win on Saturday, Oct. 10. On Sunday, the Bulldogs met up with Appalachian State. After defeating the Mountaineers in five sets at their place last season to clinch the North Division title, the Bulldogs looked to make it three straight wins over Appalachian State. However, the Mountaineers came to defend home court and won the match in a hard fought five sets.

Appalachian State (11-15, 7-5 SoCon) sits in fourth place currently in the North Division standings. The Mountaineers come off a weekend in which they defeated defending South Division Champion College of Charleston, 3-1. Then on Wednesday, Appalachian State and Western Carolina met up with the Mountaineers winning that match, 3-1.

The Mountaineers are led by Kelsey Kuehner who averages 2.48 kills per set while Becca Norris leads in hitting with a .281 average. Kasey Sauls leads in assists with 9.29 and Casey Engelgau leads the back row with 4.42 digs per set. Caroline Sedon is ranked 35th in the nation in blocks per set with 1.29.

Western Carolina (3-23, 0-12) will have to face Chattanooga before meeting up with Samford on Sunday. The Catamounts enter the weekend winless in league play and have lost 16 consecutive matches.

The Catamounts are led by Amanda Kerr and Katie Hennessey. Kerr boasts a team-high 2.21 kills per set while Hennessey averages .258 in hitting percentage. She also leads in assists per set with 7.46 while Liz Rondone leads the back row with 3.68 digs per set.

The Bulldogs will honor their three seniors - Sarah Gardner, Katie Luckman and Sheriden Stangohr - in a ceremony before the Western Carolina match. All three seniors have contributed much to the success of the Samford volleyball program throughout their four years with the program.

Sarah history of Samford volleyball. She currently ranks sixth on the all-time aces list with 162 aces over her four years here at Samford. As a red-shirt freshman, she recorded the second highest single-season digs total (412), just missing the all-time record. Her most outstanding match came in her freshman season as well, as she recorded a career-high 29 digs against South Alabama in its own Jaguar Classic, just missing another school record by nine digs.

Luckman has been one of the most vocal leaders on the team for the past four years. She was an immediate contributor to the Bulldog program, helping her team improve from six wins her freshman season to 16 her sophomore year to winning the Southern Conference North Division title last year. Her most memorable moment was serving an ace for match point against OVC No. 2 Morehead State to open up the Pete Hanna Center in 2007.

Stangohr ranks as the all-time four-year career hitter in Samford history with a career average of .300. She became the all-time leader in block assists on Sept. 18 versus Memphis in the Memphis Invitational. Most recently, she notched 1,000 kills in her career at Chattanooga on Oct. 21. She is the second Bulldog in two years to accomplish this feat. She also ranks ninth on the career block solos list with 59.

Match play on Saturday begins at 7 p.m., while the Sunday match will begin at 2 p.m., just following the ceremony recognizing the seniors. Live streaming will be offered for free on www.samfordsports.com for both of this weekend's matches. A full recap and results will also be available upon the completion of each match.