--- Bulldogs take on Central Arkansas, Southeast Missouri and Belmont in Belmont Tournament ---
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford University volleyball team will head to the Music City this weekend to play in the Belmont Invitational Friday and Saturday. The four-team tournament is the second for the Bulldogs this preseason and in addition to playing host team Belmont, Samford will face former Ohio Valley Conference foe Southeast Missouri and first-time competitor Central Arkansas.
“I am looking forward to another weekend where we should find ourselves in some battles,” Samford head coach Derek Schroeder said. “We have shown that we can step up and be tough when we need to be. Now we need to show we can execute at higher levels than last weekend.”
The Bulldogs opened up the 2009 season last weekend as they hosted the Drury Hotels Samford Invitational. Samford went 3-0 in the tournament defeating the University of Louisiana-Monroe (3-0), Southern Miss (3-1) and Tennessee State (3-0).
Samford’s biggest win of the weekend came in the tournament finale against former Ohio Valley Conference foe Tennessee State. Samford and TSU had not met on the court since the Bulldogs left the OVC to join the Southern Conference a year ago, and the Bulldogs had not defeated the Lady Tigers since 2004. After falling behind early in the match, Samford put together a huge comeback to abolish TSU’s seven-match win streak against the Bulldogs.
“This past weekend, we saw an inconsistent team that made plays when they needed to,” Schroeder said. “We have worked this week on our third contact, attacking the ball, especially out of system and then also on putting together three purposeful contacts on each rally opportunity.”
Samford will take on Central Arkansas at 2:30 p.m. on Friday. Then, the Bulldogs’ Saturday action begins with Southeast Missouri at 12:30 p.m. before closing out tournament play against Belmont at 6:30 p.m.
Fans can follow all the action of the Belmont Tournament via live stats atwww.belmontbruins.com. A full recap and results will be available on www.samfordsports.comupon the completion of each match.
First up for the Bulldogs is an inaugural meeting with Central Arkansas. The Sugar Bears enter the weekend, 1-2, after a three-match stint in the Rice/Mizuno Invitational last weekend. UCA won its first match against Houston Baptist in a 3-0 sweep before falling to Rice and Oklahoma, 3-1, on Saturday.
Central Arkansas is coached by fifth-year coach and 2008 Southland Conference Coach of the Year Steven McRoberts who holds a record of 91-47 at UCA. He led the Sugar Bears to a first place finish last season in the Southland Conference East Division. UCA went 12-4 in league play and set an overall school record in winning percentage for the second straight season.
The Sugar Bears are led by Chloe Smith who is averaging 5.18 kills per set and Robyn Smith who has tallied 105 assists on the season so far. Taylor Hammonds is also a big contributor with 1.18 blocks per set.
SEMO is undefeated against the Bulldogs. The last time the two teams played was in Cape Girardeau, Mo., which resulted in a 3-1 Ohio Valley Conference loss for Samford. The Redhawks come off a 2-1 opening weekend in which they defeated Arkansas State, 3-1, and swept Memphis before falling to Evansville in the Memphis Invitational.
The Redhawks are led by Emily Hughes and Sarah Barth who were honored by the OVC this week as Offensive Player and Setter of the Week, respectively. Hughes averaged 4.64 kills and 5.09 per set in the Memphis Invitational. In 103 attempts, she committed only 10 errors for a 3.98 hitting percentage. She also had ten blocks. Barth led her team to the Memphis Invitational title, dishing out 137 assists and 2.18 digs per set. She recorded two assist-dig double-doubles over the weekend.
Samford leads the all-time series with Belmont, 12 games to four. The Bruins have won the last three meetings between the two teams as the Bulldogs have not defeated Belmont since 2003. The Bruins are the defending Atlantic Sun Tournament Champions for the second time in three years and are coached by Deane Webb who is approaching his 300th career win. Belmont is the first of four NCAA Tournament teams the Bulldogs will face this year.
Belmont comes into this weekend winless on the season. After losing its first four matches of the season in the Louisville Invitational last weekend, the Bruins dropped its home opener in five sets to Western Kentucky Tuesday night.
Belmont is led by Carly Frazier, who is averaging 3.20 kills per set, and Channing Salava who is dishing out 8.60 assists per set.
*** SAMFORD BULLDOGS ***
