Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Elon volleyball team suffered a tough Southern Conference loss on the road today, Oct. 8, falling to Samford, 3-1 (20-25, 27-25, 25-27, 12-25), in the Pete Hanna Center. The Phoenix drops to 13-7 (2-3 SoCon), while the Bulldogs are now 17-3 (4-2 SoCon).
 
“We played much better today than we did on the road during our first conference weekend,” said Elon head coach Mary Tendler. “We need to play more aggressively and consistently on defense to earn a road win in this conference.”
 
Senior Caroline Lemke led Elon with 10 kills, while freshman Kris Harris and senior Traci Stewart each finished with seven. Harris and junior Carly Ledbetter both tallied three blocks to lead the defense.
 
In the first set, an ace by Deatsch and kills by Harris and Lemke put the Phoenix up 4-3. With the score tied at seven, the Bulldogs earned three straight points to take a 10-7 lead and force Elon to call its first timeout of the match. Out of the timeout the Phoenix scored off a Harris kill to cut the deficit to two, 10-8. A kill by Lemke and back-to-back aces by junior Ali Deatsch capped a three-point run by the maroon and gold to pull within one of Samford, 13-12. The Phoenix knotted the set at 15-all and used kills by Harris to make it only a 19-18 advantage for the Bulldogs. However, a 6-2 run by Samford ended the set, 25-20, to give the Bulldogs the match lead.
 
Elon jumped out to a four-point advantage, 8-4, to start the second set. After three quick scores by the Bulldogs, a kill by Lemke put the Phoenix back up by four, 15-11. With the set still in favor of the maroon and gold, 17-15, Elon scored four unanswered to take its biggest advantage of the match, 21-15. From there, the Bulldogs began to whittle away at the Phoenix lead by going on a 9-3 run to tie the set at 24-all. Samford stopped Elon at set point twice before an error by the Bulldogs’ Elizabeth Neisler gave the maroon and gold a 27-25 set win.
 
A kill by Lemke put the Phoenix up 4-2 early in the third set before a five-point run gave the Bulldogs a 7-4 lead. Elon was able to tie the set and then regain the lead, 11-10, off a kill by freshman Chanelle Smith and a block by Harris and C. Smith. From there the Bulldogs and Phoenix would trade off points until the Bulldogs scored three unanswered to take an 18-15 advantage. A block by Harris and Ledbetter put the maroon and gold back within three, 22-19, before a four-point run by the Phoenix tied the set at 23-all. Samford scored four of the final six points to take the set, 27-25.
 
In the fourth set, a kill by C. Smith pulled Elon within two at 10-8 Samford lead. From there, the Bulldogs went on a seven-point run to take a nine-point advantage, 17-8. The Phoenix was not able to bounce back from Samford’s strong lead and fell 25-12 in the final set.
 
Elon will play at Chattanooga tomorrow, Oct. 9, at 2 p.m. before heading back to Alumni Gym for a two-match home stand.