Cameron Pollack / The Citadel

Box Score

The Citadel Cit 9-12,8-10 SoCon

Samford SU 13-3,13-3 SoCon

The Citadel Cit

9-12,8-10 SoCon

Final

Mar. 29, 2021

Samford SU

13-3,13-3 SoCon

Set Scores
Team	1	2	3	4	5	F
The Citadel Cit	28	25	29	25	13	(2)
Samford SU	30	18	31	17	15	(3)

Game Recap: Volleyball | 3/29/2021 10:29:00 PM

The Citadel Nearly Pulls Off Another Upset

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Citadel volleyball team nearly pulled off a five-set victory for the second day in row, falling in league-leading Samford, 3-2 (28-30, 25-18, 29-31, 25-17, 13-15), Monday evening inside the Hanna Center.

Score: Samford 3, The Citadel 2
Records: The Citadel (9-12, 7-9), Samford (13-3, 13-3)
Location: Pete Hanna Center (Birmingham, Alabama)
Series: Samford leads 19-2

How it Happened

The teams exchanged the first 14 points of the match before The Citadel went on a 6-0 run to take a 13-7 advantage.
Samford would answer with a 7-2 run to pull within one, before eventually evening the set at 18-18.
The Citadel fought off two set points and had a set point of their own at 25-24.
Both teams had set point again before Samford was able to finish off the set.
The Citadel used an 8-1 run early in the second set to take a 13-7 advantage. Mellanie King sparked the run with a pair of kills, and teamed up with Maddy Cardenas for block.
An ace from Faith Justice pushed the lead to eight points and King clinched the set with another kill.
The Citadel looked to be well on their way to a 2-1 advantage as they opened a 21-10 lead in the third set. Samford was able to battle back to eventually take the set 31-29.
The fourth set belonged to The Citadel as they raced out to an 11-6 lead on a kill from Makaya Middleton.
Two more kills from Middleton and a solo block from King helped to extend the advantage to eight points.
Unlike the previous set, the duo of Sharlissa de Jesus and King put the set away with back-to-back kills.
The Citadel used a 7-1 run early in the fifth set to take a 9-5 advantage.
Samford was able to come back and tie the set, 12-12, before de Jesus and Gina Delancey combined for a block.
The Citadel was not able to score another point and Samford took the final set and the match.

Inside the Box Score

The Citadel closed out the season with a school-record seven Southern Conference wins.
The Bulldogs finished in a tie for fifth place in the conference standings, the highest in program history.
Sharlissa de Jesus closed out the season in impressive fashion with 24 kills and 25 digs. She had only five errors on 68 swings and finished by hitting .297.
The match was the second 20-20 match of her career. She had 22 kills and 35 digs against Western Carolina on Nov. 16, 2018.
The 25 digs were a season high, while the 24 kills were the second-highest total this season.
Mellanie King tied her career-high with 22 kills. She equaled the mark set against UNCG on March 21.
The match marked the third time this season that de Jesus and King each went for 20 kills in the same match. Prior to this season, it had never been done in program history.
Makaya Middleton was the third Bulldog in double figures with 12 kills. She also added four blocks.
Libero Kenzie Kellerman finished with a career-high 30 digs.
Middle blockers Gina Delancey and Maddy Cardenas each had three kills and five blocks.
Amie Greene handed out a career-high 58 assists. She added three kills, three service aces, 12 digs and three blocks.
As a team, The Citadel had a season-high 13.0 blocks.