BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Kelly Rhein set a career-high with 25 kills and Kasey Sauls eclipsed the 50-assist plateau in Appalachian State volleyball's 3-2 win over Samford on Sunday, Nov. 13 at the Hanna Center.

The Mountaineers (20-10, 12-4) ended the regular season in style by sweeping the season series against the Bulldogs (26-4, 13-3), who had clinched the Southern Conference North Division title on Saturday.

Samford, which finished just one game ahead of the Apps in the SoCon North, cruised to an easy 25-12 win in the first set before Appalachian battled back to take two-straight.

The Mountaineers took a quick 3-0 lead in the second set and, despite several Bulldog rallies, never trailed en route to a 25-21 set victory. The Bulldogs were able to tie the set late (17-17) but ASU responded with three-straight points to begin a set-clinching 8-4 run.

A back-and-forth third set was the highlight of the afternoon as it featured 10 ties and three lead changes before the Black and Gold picked up a 25-23 win to give it a 2-1 advantage after three sets.

Despite holding a 22-17 lead late in the third set, the Mountaineers allowed Samford to get back into it by surrendering four of the next five points before Anna Wagner would put the set away with one of her 25 kills.

Samford bounced back with a dominant fourth-set effort as it did not surrender the lead at any point on its way to a 25-18 win to tie the match at 2-2.

The fifth and final set saw the Bulldogs build a 6-4 lead before the Mountaineers came roaring back with a 5-0 run to take the lead.

Appalachian led by as many as five points (14-9) before Samford scored three in a row to cut the deficit to just two points, but K. Rhein put the match away with her final kill of the match.

Her 25 kills eclipsed her previous career-high of 19, set against The Citadel on Sept. 26, 2009, and the senior outside hitter added 14 digs in the contest.

Wagner also finished with 14 digs to go along with 25 kills as the duo combined to record 50 of Appalachian's 67 kills in the contest.

Courtney Rhein led all players with 27 digs while Sauls notched 51 assists, her highest total of the season, to go along with 12 digs.

Appalachian State hit .241 as a team while Samford hit .300 but was held to just .074 in the final set. The Bulldogs finished with an 8-4 edge in blocks but committed nine service errors.

The Mountaineers will face Georgia Southern at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 19 in the first round of the 2011 SoCon Volleyball Championships. Appalachian State earned the No. 2 seed in the SoCon North while the Eagles are the No. 3 seed out of the SoCon South.