GWU Volleyball Suffers a 3-0 Loss at Samford Saturday Afternoon
September 15, 2012 | Volleyball
Birmingham, Ala. - The Gardner-Webb volleyball team suffered a tough 3-0 loss to Samford on Saturday afternoon on day two of the Samford Bulldog Invitational in Birmingham, Ala.
The Runnin' Bulldogs struggled from start to finish in the match, falling to Samford 25-8, 25-16 and 25-9.
The loss snaps GWU's winning streak at three and puts the Runnin' Bulldogs at 4-11 overall for the year.
Gardner-Webb posted 28 attack errors compared to only 21 kills and had six service errors in the match.
"It was a tough match against an outstanding team," Head Coach Leo Sayles commented. "They played very well and forced us into a lot of errors. Our inexperience showed today. We'll take the loss and grow from it. Going 2-1 and taking second-place at the Samford Bulldog Invitational is still a big positive for us."
Gardner-Webb's Emily Holte and Anna Pashkova were both named to the Samford Bulldog Invitational All-Tournament Team.
Senior outside hitter Molly Rhyne led the way with six kills, while setter Heather Feldman dished out 13 set assists and picked up four kills over the three set match.
For Samford, Michaela Reesor tallied a team-high 10 kills to go along with eight digs, while Lauren Hutchinson added nine kills on a .412 attack percentage.
In the first set, the Runnin' Bulldogs took advantage of three Samford errors to tie the score up at 3-3 to start the contest.
After a kill by Tyler Cockrell put the Runnin' Bulldogs within two at 6-4, the Samford Bulldogs responded with a kill by Hutchinson which jump-started a 9-0 by the home team to push the Bulldogs in front by nine at 15-4.
Gardner-Webb cut the Samford lead to ten at 16-6 on a Feldman kill, but it did not slow down the Samford offensive attack, as four GWU errors helped to contribute to a 9-2 run by the Bulldogs who downed the Runnin' Bulldogs 25-8 in the opening set.
In the second set, the Runnin' Bulldogs fell behind early at 3-0, but battled back on a kill from Rhyne and a Samford attack error to cut the Bulldogs' lead to one at 8-7.
After a 4-0 run, aided by three GWU errors, by the Samford Bulldogs pushed the home team in front by five at 12-7, the Runnin' Bulldogs got kills from Rhyne, freshman Tyra Montour, Holte, senior Carolina Solano and Cockrell to get within four points at 16-12.
GWU cut the lead to three at 18-15, yet failed to put together a strong run over the remainder of the set, as the Samford Bulldogs finished the game on a 5-0 run to hold on for the 25-16 second set win and take a 2-0 match lead.
Down 2-0 heading into the third set, the Runnin' Bulldogs used two Samford errors to stay close to the Bulldogs of Samford at 3-2. However, untimely errors and a long scoring drought would once again haunt the Runnin' Bulldogs, as a 6-0 run by Samford pushed the home team in front by seven at 9-2.
Gardner-Webb attempted to get back on track with back-to-back kills from Holte and Feldman, however, the Runnin' Bulldog offense failed to find any type of rhythm falling behind by eight at 14-6.
Another Feldman kill cut the Samford lead to seven at 14-7, things fell apart for GWU, as Samford ran off seven unanswered points to kick-off an 11-2 run to give the Samford Bulldogs a big 25-9 set win and the 3-0 match victory.
The Runnin' Bulldogs will return to action on Tuesday night, as GWU will hit the road to take on Western Carolina at 6 p.m. in Cullowhee, N.C.
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| Box Score: Samford 3, GWU 0 |
