Birmingham, Ala. – Western Carolina volleyball closed out its extended 15-match season-opening road swing on the wrong end of a straight-set defeat on Friday night against the Samford Bulldogs at the Pete Hanna Center.

Junior Ali Morris paced the Catamounts with eight kills as the Knoxville, Tenn. native also totaled eight digs. Senior Bailey Hartsough and sophomore Logan Carr finished with seven kills apiece, as Hartsough added seven digs to her stat line and Carr posted a pair of blocks. Senior Sarah Janourova and sophomore Katie Boney both passed out 10 assists with Janourova finishing with seven digs and an ace, while Boney picked up six digs. Sophomore Eda Yalçinkaya had a team-high 15 digs, while junior Janelle Blue joined Carr with a pair of blocks.

With her 10 helpers, Janourova passed Kim Hartsell (1,949, 1988-89) for 12th in the program's career record book for assists now with 1,951. Hartsough moved to 15th in the program's career record book for kills with 1,010 as she passed Kim Spruill (1,008, 1985-88). 

Kaleigh Meritt led all players on Friday night with 19 kills while also picking up 11 digs and three blocks in the double-dip. Gracie Lynn Butler added nine kills and seven digs for the Bulldogs. Lexi Thatcher led all players with 37 assists while adding seven digs. Ally Cordes led Samford with 17 digs, one more than teammate Kate Morgan with 16 digs and three aces.

Samford opened Friday's action fast with seven of the first eight points to gain the early advantage and force a WCU timeout. The following 10 points saw both teams trade markers to keep the deficit at six, 12-6, before the Bulldogs stretched it to 18-10 with a 6-4 burst. Following its second momentum-swinging timeout, WCU answered with a 6-3 spurt to cut the set deficit to five, 21-16, but the hosts would close with four of the final six points to take the set 25-18.

Samford used a 7-3 run out of the chutes for another fast start to gain the early edge in set two. WCU answered with five of the next eight points to cut the deficit to one, 9-8. However, the Bulldogs used a 6-2 burst to take a 15-10 lead at the media break. The 'Dogs used a 5-2 spurt out of the stoppage to quickly make it 20-12 and force WCU to spend a timeout. The two teams then traded points down the stretch before Samford took set two, 25-16.

For a third-straight set, Samford used a quick start with an 8-2 blast to open the third set and gain the advantage. WCU counterpunched with a 6-2 burst to trim the deficit to 10-8. The Bulldogs scored five of the next six points to take a 15-9 lead to the media break. The hosts continued the pressure with a 10-3 run down the stretch to close out the three-set win in Friday night's SoCon action.

Western Carolina (7-8, 1-1 SoCon) opens its home slate when the Catamounts welcome in-state league foe UNCG to Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center on Friday, Oct. 11, for a 6 p.m. first serve. WCU follows it up the next night with a "Hike & Spike Doubleheader" as the Catamounts welcome defending SoCon Tournament Champion Wofford for a 7 p.m. first serve following WCU football's Heroes Day game against The Citadel at 2:30 p.m.

Both volleyball matchups and the football game will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), and live stats will be available on CatamountSports.com.

Keep track of everything related to Catamount volleyball and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts, @catamountvb), and Twitter (@catamounts, @catamountvb).