The Citadel Athletics

SENIOR (2016): Played in 33 matches and appeared in 126 sets … finishes career with the two highest single-season dig totals after tallying 556 in 2015 and 531 in 2016 … finished second on the all-time career digs list with 1,441 total digs … had third-most assists on the team with 90 … led the team with 27 service aces … averaged a team-best 4.21 digs per set … opened the 2016 campaign with 81 digs over three matches … had 20 digs and six assists against Charleston Southern on Sept. 2 and then followed that up with 24 digs and six assists hours later against Georgia Southern … opened the season with 11 straight double-digit dig games … reeled off 13 consecutive double-digit dig games during middle of season including 28 digs in a conference win over Furman on Oct. 16 … tallied 24 digs in five-set match against Chattanooga on Oct. 29 … posted 22 digs and two assists on Senior Day against Western Carolina … rounded out four-year career with 11 digs against Furman in the SoCon Championships.

JUNIOR (2015): Broke the program record at The Citadel for sets played in a single season with 132 in 2015, appearing in all 35 matches… Led the Bulldogs in digs and dismantled school records for digs in a season with 556 and digs per set during a single campaign with 4.21 … Heads into her senior season ninth all-time in program history in career digs with 910 and fifth all-time in digs per set with an average of 2.68… Ranked ninth in the SoCon during league play in digs per set with 3.64… Became the first Bulldog to ever record at least 25 digs in a match at least four times in one campaign… Posted double-digit digs in 27 of The Citadel’s 35 matches… Averaged 14.25 digs per match during the Dogs’ season-opening tournament at Georgia Tech, highlighted by a 22-dig outing in a 3-1 win vs. Siena… Racked up 27 digs in four sets vs. USC-Upstate and followed that up by leading the team with 26 digs in a 3-2 victory over Gardner-Webb… During a three-match stretch that saw the Bulldogs go 2-1 with wins over South Carolina State and Charleston Southern, piled up 73 digs and 16 assists… Notched her best two performances during SoCon play against Western Carolina, tallying 24 digs in a road loss and 25 digs in a five-set clash at McAlister Field House… In the home finale vs. Mercer, posted 20 digs and three assists… Finished her stellar season at the SoCon tournament with 24 digs vs. the Catamounts.

SOPHOMORE (2014): Opened the season with three kills, one solo block and one assisted block against Southern Utah at Navy in the Kristen Dickmann Invitational … followed that outing with seven kills (.500 attack percentage), three digs and two assisted blocks against Providence … contributed six kills, three assisted blocks and one dig for The Citadel at Alabama State in the ISTAP Collegiate Cup 2 … enjoyed a solid all-around outing against South Carolina at the Carolina Classic where she finished with eight kills (.538 attack percentage) and five digs … had the first of eight double-digit dig outings of the season when she tallied 12 against Savannah State (Oct. 7) … capped off a series of three straight double figure dig performances with a career high 15 at Mercer (Oct. 31) … ended her campaign on a high note with 12 digs and 10 assists against Wofford at the Southern Conference Tournament.

FRESHMAN (2013): Wrapped up her first season as a Bulldog with the third-most digs (159) and most sets played (105) by any Citadel freshman … finished with nine digs in her first collegiate match against South Florida … started three sets against Ball State and had four digs … wrapped up the USF Tournament with six digs against Austin Peay … opened the East Carolina Tournament with eight digs against the host Pirates … played five sets and finished with seven digs against Morgan State in the East Carolina Tournament … integral cog in The Citadel’s defense with nine digs and two kills in the home-opener against South Carolina State … tallied eight digs, four kills and a .286 attack percentage in the four-set victory over Gardner-Webb … came through with six digs and one kill in the Dogs’ sweep of Bethune-Cookman … opened up SoCon play with 11 assists, four digs and three kills against UNCG … posted six digs and three service aces against Elon … emerged with seven digs and a pair of kills in The Citadel’s victory in October over Savannah State … tallied nine digs in three sets against Western Carolina … had her best outing of the season against Chattanooga when she finished with 16 assists and 14 digs … responsible for eight digs and one kill in the season finale against Western Carolina.
 
HIGH SCHOOL: The three-sport standout from Buckhorn High School … was a member of the varsity basketball (1), swimming (3) and volleyball (4) teams … drew all-county and all-area team honors in her senior season and led her club team to the Junior Olympics on three occasions (2009, 2012, 2013) ... integral part of her Rocket City club team that captured their region and advanced to the 2013 US Junior National tournament.
 
PERSONAL: Samantha Marrin Espy ... daughter of Caroline and Chris Espy ... majoring in biochemistry ... second generation athlete following in the footsteps of her aunt who was a member of the swim team at Tulane.