The Citadel Unable to Overcome Samford in SoCon Matchup

Saturday, October 17

Charleston, S.C.

2:00 PM

The Citadel

4-17,1-8SoCon

Samford

9-10,6-3SoCon

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Samford	25	25	25	3
The Citadel	13	19	20	0

Box Score.PDF

Photo by: Brian Stone

The Citadel Unable to Overcome Samford in SoCon Matchup

10/17/2026 4:13:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: The Citadel Athletics

CHARLESTON, S.C. — The Citadel (4-17, 1-8 SoCon) fell to Samford in Saturday's Southern Conference matchup at McAlister Field House, losing in three sets (13-25, 19-25, 20-25).

Rachel Reininger led The Citadel with 10 kills and added two digs. Megan Stone collected a team-high 14 digs and a service ace, while Greta Pleuss recorded 15 assists and four digs. Gwen Berry contributed nine digs and two service aces.

Maggie Kalisz led Samford with 14 kills and 17 points while hitting .464. Alison Ohlinger dished out 35 assists and added three block assists. Brooklyn Drumwright collected 19 digs and two service aces, while Ally Cordes finished with eight kills, 16 digs and an ace.

"Defensively, I thought we did a much better job executing the scouting report we worked on throughout the week. We knew some of their players would get kills, but we did a good job limiting their other options," said head coach Dave Zelenock. "Offensively, we still have work to do, especially with the connections between our setters and hitters. I thought we served well all weekend and put them out of system often. Now we need to capitalize on those opportunities and turn them into points."

First Set | 13-25
·       Jordyn Sims tied the opening set at 3-3 with a kill off an assist from Pleuss, but Samford responded with 10 consecutive points to take a 13-3 lead.
·       The Bulldogs received kills from Emma Pastusic and Elizabeth Miller, along with a block from Pastusic, but Samford extended its advantage to 20-7.
·       The Citadel responded with a 5-0 run, highlighted by a Stone service ace, a Cameron Reese block and kills from Sims and Reese, cutting the deficit to 20-12.
·       Samford regained momentum and closed the opening set 25-13 on a kill from Hazel Slusher.

Second Set | 19-25
·       The Bulldogs opened the second set strong, using kills from Reininger and Luci Lippelgoos and a service ace from Berry to take an 8-5 lead.
·       The Citadel maintained its advantage at 15-12 before Samford rallied with three consecutive points to even the score at 15-15.
·       After the Bulldogs regained a 16-15 lead, Samford answered with a four-point run to move ahead 19-16.
·       Reininger delivered late kills to keep The Citadel within striking distance, but Samford secured the final three points to claim the set 25-19.

Third Set | 20-25
·       Samford jumped ahead 4-0 before The Citadel responded, tying the set at 5-5 on a Reininger kill and taking a 7-6 lead following a kill from Lippelgoos.
·       The Bulldogs continued to battle, with Berry delivering a service ace to tie the score at 12-12 before Miller's block put The Citadel ahead 13-12.
·       The teams remained even at 16-16 before Samford used a four-point run to build a 20-16 advantage.
·       Late kills from Miller, Sims and Pastusic kept the Bulldogs fighting, but Samford closed out the set 25-20.

Up Next
The Citadel returns to the road Oct. 22-23, traveling to Spartanburg, S.C., to face Wofford inside Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium.