Samford Volleyball Wins Third-Straight SoCon Tournament Title With 3-0 Win Over Mercer

By Women's Volleyball | Legion FC

The Samford volleyball team earned its third-straight Southern Conference Tournament title with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-21) win over Mercer Saturday afternoon in the Pete Hanna Center.

Samford has now won the SoCon Tournament in four of the last five seasons under head coach Keylor Chan. The tournament win gives Samford the SoCon's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The pairings for the tournament will be announced Sunday at 3 p.m. (CT) on ESPNU.

Samford improves to 15-3 with the win. Mercer ends its season with a mark of 15-8.

SAMFORD 3, MERCER 0

FROM THE BOX SCORE

• Lauren Deaton led Samford with 15 kills and 14 digs.

• Emily Naubert also had 14 digs for the Bulldogs.

• Kayla Keshock had 31 assists for Samford.

• Annie Karle led Mercer with 17 kills.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

• Samford's Deaton, Naubert and Sinclaire Green were named to the All-SoCon Tournament team.

• Deaton was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

KEY MOMENTS

• In the first set, Mercer grabbed an early 5-2 lead.

• Samford fought back to take a 12-8 advantage on a kill by Green.

• Samford built its lead to 24-16, and the Bulldogs took the first set, 25-18.

• Mercer built a 12-8 lead in the second set.

• Samford fought back to knot the score at 18-18 on a kill by Briana Holmes.

• After Mercer took a 23-20 lead, Samford ended the set on a 5-0 run to take the 25-23 win.

• In the third set, Samford took an early 7-4 lead.

• Mercer came back to take a 10-9 lead.

• Samford then went on a 6-1 run to take a 15-11 advantage.

• With Samford leading, 20-14, Mercer scored the next four points to cut the lead to 20-18.

• With Samford leading, 24-21, a block by Sierra Rayzor sealed the 25-21 set win and the three sets to none match victory.

NEXT UP

Samford will find out its opponent for the first round of the NCAA Tournament Sunday at 3 p.m. (CT) on ESPNU.