Early Week Roundup: Volleyball, Soccer, Softball, and Baseball Finish Weekend Slate 3-1-1

Volleyball

Match 1: W 3-1

Photo taken by Madyson Chambers

After a relatively easy first set victory for the Bulldogs (25-15), Samford and Chattanooga were locked in a fierce battle, with the Mocs taking set two 26-28 and then the league leading Bulldogs winning sets three and four 27-25 and 25-20 respectively. Sunday's win pushed the team's win streak out to 11 and kept the Bulldogs at the top of Conference standings.

Kenya McQuirter led both teams in the kills category, totaling 18 on the day. Senior Sierra Rayzor and Junior Lauren Deaton tallied the second most kills for Samford with 13 a piece.

Samford controlled the net on Sunday as the Bulldogs blocked 6 shots to Chattanooga's 1. Kenya McQuirter came away from the match with the only Solo Block. Lauren Deaton and Sierra Rayzor combined for 3 Block Assists and Corinne Meglic and Briana Holmes contributed another 2 assists.

Match 2: L 2-3

Photo taken by Bennet Looper

For the first time in 50 days, Samford Volleyball dropped a match as the squad fell to Chattanooga in Tennessee. Samford took set one 25-23 and set four 25-15 to force a fifth and final set, but Chattanooga edged out the set, and therefore match victory with a 15-7 victory. Much like Sunday's match, the two squads were evenly matched, a prime example being set two of Monday's match which had a combined 58 points, which saw Chattanooga sneak by with a 30-28 set win.

Kayla Keshock was absolutely unconscious on Monday as she tallied 51 out of the team's total 56 assists. Lauren Deaton was the only other Bulldog to tally multiple assists (2).

Photo taken by Madison Bullock

Samford and Chattanooga found themselves tied in the kills category with both teams totaling 61 on the day. Lauren Deaton led the Bulldogs with 19 and Kenya McQuirter tallied an additional 16 kills, bringing her 2 day total up to 34.

The Bulldogs will wrap up the regular season on Sunday and Monday as they welcome the Bulldogs of The Citadel. Samford needs to win at least one set to all but wrap up the top seed, but a sweep of The Citadel would certainly guarantee Samford the top spot.

Soccer

Samford Battles League Leading Furman to 1-1 Draw to Finish South Carolina Swing

Photo taken by Chase Cochran

On Sunday afternoon, a 30 second window saw all of the scoring with Furman scoring the first goal on Samford's Defense since the loss at Ole Miss and then Samford roaring right back with Forward Taylor Yount converting a penalty kick to even the score at 1-1, giving the game it's final score.

Yount led the Samford attack with 7 shots (2 on frame) and providing the sole goal for Samford. Mid Fielder Mary Raymond had the second most shots with 3, but none of them were considered "on goal." Percentage wise, Senior Defender Alex Bice had a 100% shot on goal percentage after attempting 2 shots.

Samford will return home for two matches this weekend. On Friday, the team will hold its annual Shauna's House game against Mercer on Friday and then will play again on Sunday against The Citadel. This year, proceeds from the Sauna's House game and a post game jersey auction will benefit Eden House which focuses on giving At Risk girls from Thailand a solid foundation so that they can escape slave labor or prostitution. Former Samford Soccer Player Kim Matthews (2003-06) helps with the operations of Eden House.

Shauna's House is named for Coach Yelton's late wife, Shauna, who died in 2015 after battling with Cancer. Shauna's House is a transitional home in Ukraine for kids who have aged out of orphanages. Today, Shauna's House houses just under 40 kids, both boys and girls. The foundation's work with orphans in Ukraine helps keeps kids off of the streets and from falling into drug abuse.

Screen grab taken from SCR: Shauna's House 2017

Coach Yelton had the following to say to SamfordSports.com when talking about this year's Shauna's House Game: "Eden House, basically, provides a home for young girls in Thailand who would wind up either in slave labor or prostitution," Yelton said. "It's just the next thing we want to do to keep doing this thing, and it's ultimately to honor Shauna's legacy. She would hate that I call this Shauna's House, it wasn't really her style, but it's certainly important to me. I'm just thankful for the outpouring of support from this community and this university on these games, and they're certainly special nights for us."

For those who want to support either or both organizations, the link to donate are hyperlinked to the organization's name.

Eden House Shauna's House

Softball

Samford Gets Back on the Right Track, Salvage Series Vs Southern Mississippi with 8-2 Home Victory

Photo taken by Chase Cochran

After being swept on Saturday in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Samford took game 3 of the season series back in Homewood, Alabama with an 8-2 victory.

Abby Swaney (W, 5-4) picked up the win after throwing a complete game. Swaney allowed two runs on five hits and four walks while striking out five. With Sunday's victory, Swaney upped her strikeout counter to 39 and lowered her ERA to 3.19.

The bats were hot on the second day of Spring for the Bulldogs as the team tallied five extra base hits (three doubles and two home runs). Four Bulldogs tallied multiple hits and Grace Robertson tallied her first hit of the season with a two run blast over the wall in Left. Amanda Briskin, Whitney Hinton, and Ryan Brzozoski each reached base with a double while Timberlyn Shurbutt joined Grace Robertson in the Home Run parade.

Sunday's victory was the program's first ever win over Southern Mississippi with the two first meeting in 2016 down in Mobile, Alabama where the Golden Eagles narrowly edged the Bulldogs 4-3.

The Bulldogs will open SoCon play with a double header against Mercer on Saturday and then a single game against the Lady Bears on Sunday.

Baseball

It's a Streak: Samford Starts SoCon Play with Sweep of UNCG

Photo taken by Chase Cochran

After securing the series victory with a game 2 win over the Spartans, Samford (10-10, 3-0) secured the top spot of both the Blue division and the conference overall with an 8-3 victory against the UNCG Spartans (11-8, 0-3) in Greensboro, NC. The Southern Conference announced earlier this year that they would move to a Division system as only 4 teams will play for the SoCon Championship.

Zach Hester (W, 1-1) picked up his first victory on the year after starting the first five and two thirds innings, allowing two runs on three hits and one walk while striking out three Spartans. Hamp Skinner took the next two and one third innings, allowing just one run on two hits and a walk. Chase Isbell made quick work of the Spartans in the bottom of the 9th, getting the three batters he faced to ground out on just 12 pitches.

Samford scored in only three innings, but a five run seventh inning gave the Bulldogs the win. Four Bulldogs tallied multiple hits with Max Pinto leading the way with three base knocks out of his five trips to the dish. Kaden Dreier drove in the most runs as he brought in 3 of his teammates when he doubled to left field.

The Bulldogs return to Alabama with a midweek game against UAB on Tuesday with the Blazers hosting the Bulldogs at Regions Park. Samford will finally get to bat in the bottom half of the inning this weekend as they host the ETSU Buccaneers for a single game on Friday and then a doubleheader on Saturday.

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