No. 1 Samford wins 2019 Volleyball Championship

SPARTANBURG, S.C. –  The Samford Bulldogs, the No. 1 seed, won the 2019 Southern Conference Volleyball Championship, their third in four years and second straight under head coach Keylor Chan, beating second-seeded ETSU 3-2 (25-23, 25-22, 23-25, 17-25, 15-8) and earning an automatic bid to the 2019 NCAA Division I Volleyball Championship on Sunday afternoon inside Wofford’s Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium. The championship is Samford’s fifth in program history, all coming in the last nine seasons.

The two teams split the regular-season matchups as ETSU won 3-2 in Birmingham, Alabama, on Oct. 18 and the Bulldogs evened the series, winning 3-1 in Johnson City, Tennessee, in the regular-season finale on Nov. 16.

Samford advanced to the championship with a 3-0 quarterfinal win over eighth-seeded The Citadel and a 3-2 win over fifth-seeded Furman in the semifinals.

 Samford (24-5) scored first on an ETSU service error. The Bucs tied it at 1 on a kill by Sara Esposito before jumping out to a 6-2 lead. ETSU pushed the lead to 9-4 and Chan called an early timeout. The timeout worked as the Bulldogs scored the next five to tie it up before taking the lead 10-9 on a kill from Sierra Rayzor. The teams were knotted at 10 and 11 before ETSU scored three in a row on an ace by libero Marija Popovic and back-to-back attack errors by Samford to lead 14-11. ETSU held on to the lead and Chan called his second timeout down 18-14.

The timeout helped the Bulldogs to side out on the next play. Trailing 18-15, Samford scored three of the next four to pull within two, 19-17, and Bucs head coach Benavia Jenkins took a timeout. Out of the timeout, Lauren Hatch threw down a kill and Kaela Massey served an ace to stretch the lead to 21-17. Samford, however, scored four straight to tie it at 21 before ETSU retook the lead on a kill from freshman Lundyn Coffman. The teams traded points, with ties at 22 and 23, but Samford got a kill from Lauren Deaton, a SoCon first-team all-conference performer, and a block from Corinne Meglic and Briana Holmes, to finish off the first set 25-23.

ETSU scored first in set two. The Bucs held on to the lead, though never leading by more than three. Trailing 14-11, Chan called a timeout. It was effective as Samford won five out of the next six points and took a 17-15 lead, forcing Jenkins to use a timeout in an attempt to stop the Bulldogs’ rally. Samford held on to the lead, though ETSU pulled within one, 21-20, before back-to-back kills by Kelsi Hobbs, the SoCon Player of the Year, stretched the lead to 23-20 and Jenkins called timeout. Each team scored two down the stretch and Samford won 25-22 to take a 2-0 lead.

Chan’s squad took a 1-0 lead to begin the third set and held on to the lead until, tied at 8, ETSU took a 10-8 lead off a Bulldog attack error and a kill by Hatch. Samford quickly tied it up at 10 and the teams traded points before ETSU used a 3-0 run to break a 13-13 tie and go in front 16-13. Chan called a timeout and the Bulldogs scored out of the break to halt the Bucs’ run and quickly tied it at 17. ETSU regained the lead on a kill by Coffman and pushed the lead to 22-19 before Chan used a timeout. Samford chipped away at the lead and pulled within one, 23-22, and Jenkins took a timeout of her own. The Bucs scored out of the timeout, and though Samford answered, Hatch threw down her 10^th kill of the match to seal the 25-23 ETSU win.

Hatch scored the first point of the fourth set to put the Bucs on the board. Samford took a 2-1 lead but ETSU regained the lead and led by four at 9-5 but the Bulldogs used a 5-1 run to tie it at 10. ETSU scored five of the next seven to go up 15-12 and Chan called a timeout. The Bucs kept the attack on and ran the lead to 19-15 before Chan called his second and final timeout of the set. Again, the timeout didn’t halt the Buccaneers attack and ETSU cruised to a 25-17 win.

Samford scored first to open the decisive fifth set and won four of the first five points to jump out to a 4-1 lead. Jenkins called a timeout but Samford scored the next four out of the break. The teams switched sides with Samford in front 8-1 but the Bulldogs kept their foot on the gas and scored two more to lead 10-1 and force Jenkins to use her second and final timeout. This timeout worked to settle the Bucs, who scored five in a row to make it 10-6 and Chan used a timeout. Esposito tacked on another point on a kill out of the timeout but Samford was able to side out leading 11-7. The teams traded points and Samford led 12-8 before back-to-back kills brought up set point. Deaton sent the final kill home for a 15-8 set win and a 3-2 victory.

Hobbs, the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, led Samford with a career-high 26 kills and hit .426 with just three errors on a match-high 54 swings. She added 12 digs to earn a double-double. Deaton recorded 20 kills and hit .311, also earning a double-double as she added 14 digs. Rayzor had 14 kills and just one error, hitting a match-high .684. Libero Emily Naubert led all players with 24 digs while Grace Tiesman added 10.

Massey led ETSU with 18 kills. The senior hit .600 and added six blocks. Esposito (17), Olivia Cunningham (11) and Hatch (11) joined her with double-digit kills.

Samford will learn its NCAA tournament opponent during the selection show on Sunday, Dec.1. The show is set for 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU.

2019 Southern Conference Volleyball Championship
Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium ▪ Spartanburg, S.C.

Tuesday, Nov. 19
First Round
Match 1: #8 The Citadel 3, #9 Chattanooga 0 in Charleston, South Carolina (SDN/Roku)

Friday, Nov. 22
Quarterfinals
Match 2: #5 Furman 3, #4 Wofford 1 (SDN/Roku)
Match 3: #1 Samford 3, #8 The Citadel 0 (SDN/Roku)
Match 4: #2 ETSU 3, #7 UNCG 1 (SDN/Roku)
Match 5: #6 Mercer 3, #3 Western Carolina 2 (SDN/Roku)

Saturday, Nov. 23
Semifinals
Match 6: #1 Samford 3, #5 Furman 2 (SDN/Roku)
Match 7: #2 ETSU 3, #6 Mercer 2 (SDN/Roku)

Sunday, Nov. 24
Championship
Match 8: #1 Samford 3, #2 ETSU 2 (ESPN+)

All-Tournament Team

Nicole Mack, Furman
Brittany Major, Mercer
Sara Esposito, ETSU
Kaela Massey, ETSU
Lauren Deaton, Samford
Kelsi Hobbs, Samford
Sierra Rayzor, Samford

Most Outstanding Player

Kelsi Hobbs, Samford

Pinnacle Award Recipient (highest cumulative GPA among championship-eligible student-athletes on winning team)

Sierra Rayzor, Samford

 

 

-www.SoConSports.com-