BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Samford captured a rare 3-0 victory of the College of Charleston in volleyball action at the Pete Hanna Center on Friday night. The Bulldogs won 25-18, 25-23 and 25-21.
College of Charleston moved to 14-9 and 5-2 in the SoCon, while Samford improved to 18-3 and 5-2.
The Cougars' Lizzie Theesfeld led the team in kills with 12 while also making 11 digs. Sloane White was second on the team with eight kills and four blocks. Sarah Havel hit a team-best .417 while making five total blocks. The Cougars hit .206 as a team, with eight total blocks.
Samford was led by the duo of Elizabeth Neisler and Lauren Hutchinson. Both players tallied 14 kills and combined for eight total blocks. Samford hit .327 on the game and made 48 digs with seven service aces.
The Bulldogs pulled away midway through the first set after the teams battled evenly to a 6-6 tie. Samford ran out to an 18-8 lead and were able to chip away points by siding out despite mini-Cougar runs for the rest of the set, eventually winning 25-18. Theesfeld led the Cougars with five kills in the set as College of Charleston hit .267. The Bulldogs used the two-pronged attack of Neisler (six kills) and Hutchinson (five kills) to hit a scorching .517 on attack.
College of Charleston came out with renewed energy in the second set, taking five points in a row to build a 15-10 lead off of blocks and kills from Havel and White. However, the Bulldogs came right back with two straight blocks and long attacks from the Cougars to cut the margin to 15-14. The teams fought back and forth until College of Charleston went up 22-19, forcing a Samford timeout. However, the Bulldogs rallied with five straight points to go up 24-22. A late kill from White was not enough as Samford took the second set, 25-23.
Samford built a small lead midway through the third set, breaking a 12-12 deadlock into a 17-13 lead with three blocks. College of Charleston pulled to within 20-19 after a White kill, a ball-handling error from Samford's Katie Murphy, and a block from Havel and White. However, the combination of Neisler and Hutchinson finished out the set for a 25-21 set victory.
College of Charleston returns to action tomorrow at Chattanooga. Match time is set for 2 p.m. ET.
