Sept. 25, 2011

Final Stats

CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Despite having set-point against the Samford Bulldogs in the third, Western Carolina (6-10, 1-1 SoCon) could not overcome a strong-hitting Samford (14-2, 1-1 SoCon) team, as the Bulldogs swept the Catamounts, 25-19, 25-18, 27-25, in front of 159 fans on Sunday afternoon at the Ramsey Center.

Samford hit .303 for the match, while the Catamounts struggled offensively, hitting at a .178 clip. Carrie Minogue and Abbey Scroggins both hit seven kills apiece, leading the Catamounts' offensive effort. The Catamounts hit only 15 kills going into the break and were able to gain some offensive momentum, more than doubling their output in the final set with 16 kills.

Defensively, libero Morgan Cochran came away with 14 digs while freshmen Jordan Timmermann and Caitlin Piechota both contributed nine digs apiece.

Samford was led offensively by two strong hitters as Elizabeth Neisler and Lauren Hutchinson added 19 and 12 kills, respectively. Hutchinson finished the match hitting over fifty percent, finishing at .524.

After Samford cruised through the first two sets, Western Carolina came alive and held a lead for most of the set. After gaining the lead at 4-3, the Catamounts led the entire third set until reaching set point with a 24-21 advantage. Following a service error by WCU, three straight kills from the Bulldogs gave Samford a 25-24 advantage. A service error by Samford evened things up, before two WCU attack errors ended the match with the Bulldogs coming away with the win.

"I was pleased with how we came back after the break," said head coach Karen Glover.

"We had some momentum in the third set, but we just couldn't finish it out."

The Catamounts will get a break from midweek play as WCU plays conference-rival Elon next, with game time set for 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Western Carolina then travels north to take on UNC Greensboro Saturday at 5:00 p.m. Live stats will be available for both matches on CatamountSports.com.