Volleyball Concludes Season with 3-0 Loss to Samford at SoCon Tournament

Saturday, November 17

Davidson, N.C.

7 p.m.

Davidson College Athletics

11-16, 7-9SoCon

No. 1N Samford

23-8, 14-2SoCon

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Davidson	25	23	21	0
Samford	27	25	25	3

Photo by: Tim Cowie - DavidsonPhotos.com

Volleyball Concludes Season with 3-0 Loss to Samford at SoCon Tournament

11/17/2012 9:23:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Ashley Bailey

DAVIDSON, N.C. – No. 1N Samford fought past No. 4S Davidson in three closely-contested sets, 27-25, 25-23 and 25-21, to earn a 3-0 victory in the first round of the 2012 Southern Conference Volleyball tournament Saturday in Belk Arena.

The defeat ends Davidson's season at 11-16, 7-9 SoCon, while Samford (23-8, 14-2 SoCon) advances to face College of Charleston Sunday at 4:30 in the semifinals.

Senior Molly Crenshaw had a team-high 12 digs while fellow senior Ariel Ley led the 'Cats with 29 assists and three block assists on the day. Tindall Sewell led the offense with 10 kills for a .474 hitting percentage and had four block assists to help the squad record 6.5 team blocks.

Caroline Brown had eight kills and a trio of aces, while chipping in five digs and a pair of block assists. Megan Chamberlin recorded six kills, three digs and an ace, and Rachel Earnhardt added in seven digs and a trio of block assists. Taylor Pisel had five kills as the Wildcats hit .135 with 34 kills.

Three Bulldogs finished in double figure kills led by Michaela Reesor's 15. Reesor also had 11 digs for a double double, though it was Alexis Bauer who led the squad with 14 digs. Katie Murphy had 12 kills and Lauren Hutchinson recorded 11 and four block assists. Casey Garvey had 38 assists and five digs, while four different Samford players recorded an ace. The Bulldogs hit .202 with 50 kills and 7.0 team blocks.

Samford eked out a 27-25 victory in the first set with both teams facing set point. Neither team led by more than a point until Samford broke a 9-9 tie with a 6-2 run led by a pair of kills from Reesor. Trailing 15-11, the Wildcats regrouped during a timeout, and took at a 19-16 lead with an 8-1 run. Back-to-back kills by Brown pulled Davidson within one during the rally, and then the Bulldogs committed four-straight attack errors to fall behind by three.

A kill by Neisler and consecutive kills by Reesor tied the match at 19-19 though, but Davidson went ahead by two on a service error and a Sewell kill. Samford battled back to tie the match at 21-21, but an attack error and a Sewell kill gave Davidson a 23-21 lead, before back-to-back kills by Hutchinson and a Davidson attack error forced the 'Cats to face set point. A Samford error and an ace from Brown put the Bulldogs on the ropes, 25-24, but another Davidson error and a block by Erika Devaughn and Hutchinson put the Bulldogs back ahead 26-25. Hutchinson then clinched the set with a kill off a pass from Garvey, 27-25.

The second set was similar to the first, with neither team holding a lead greater than two until a pair of Davidson errors and a Reesor kill gave the Bulldogs a 14-11 lead. A Chamberlin kill and a pair of Bulldog errors tied the set at 14-14 though, and the teams went back-and-forth with a Bulldog attacking error giving Davidson a 21-19 lead.

Samford regrouped during a timeout and took advantage of a pair of Davidson errors to tie the set at 21-21. A kill from Rau put Davidson ahead 22-21, but it was the last lead Davidson would hold in the set, as the Bulldogs outscored the 'Cats 4-1, winning on a block by Neisler and Murphy.

The third set was much of the same, with Davidson taking a quick lead on a pair of aces from Brown. Chamberlin notched a kill before serving a trio of points to keep the 'Cats up 11-9. It was later Brown's turn to serve up three straight scores, keeping the Wildcats in front 18-16. However, the Bulldogs battled back to tie the set 20-20 before taking a 21-20 lead on a kill by Neisler. Samford then scored four straight to take the set 25-21 for the 3-0 win.

In matches earlier in the day, No. 2N Elon fell to No. 3S Furman, 3-0, No. 1S Georgia Southern defeated No. 4N UNCG, and No. 2S College of Charleston defeated No. 3S Chattanooga.

Furman and Georgia Southern will meet in Sunday's first semifinal at 2 p.m., and Samford will face College of Charleston in the 4:30 p.m. semifinal.