Sept. 11, 2004

Box Score

GREENVILLE, South Carolina - The Ohio University Bobcats completed competition at the Furman Invitational on Saturday with a 3-0 record in the tournament, following a 30-16, 30-15, 30-21 victory over the host Lady Paladins in the tournament's final match. The Bobcats won all three tournament matches in three games and upped their season record to 6-1.

Middle blocker Melissa Griffin and outside hitter Ashley Elliott joined tournament MVP Briana Adamovsky, the Bobcat setter, on the All-Tournament team. Furman, meanwhile, was represented by Whitney Purser, while Mercer's Jackie Viren and Katie Plummer each took all-tourney honors.

In the final match, Ohio middle Julia Winkfield totaled a team-best 16 kills with a .536 attack percentage, while Stephanie Blackburn added 12 kills and a team-best 11 digs. Adamovsky recorded 41 of the Bobcats' 45 assists and added five digs, one service ace and two block assists to her linescore, while libero Michaele Blackburn contributed 10 digs to the effort.

The Lady Paladins were paced on offense by senior Julia Fredrickson's eight kills and .353 attack percentage, while Whitney Purser topped the defense with seven digs for the match. Chibuzo Aguocha managed seven kills and also put up two block assists in the match.

With the loss Furman falls to 3-4 on the year. The Lady Paladins will travel to Iowa City, Iowa next weekend for the Iowa Invitational before returning to the East Coast for a Sept. 22 match at UNC Asheville. Furman will open conference play on Sept. 24 with a 7 p.m. match at Elon.

All-Tournament Team

Mercer - Jackie Viren

Ohio - Ashley Elliott

Furman - Whitney Purser

Ohio - Melissa Griffin

Mercer - Katie Plummer

Ohio - Briana Adamovsky - MVP

Furman Invitational Match 5 Mercer 3, Jacksonville 0

The Mercer Bears moved to 4-3 on the season and 2-1 in the Furman Invitational with a 30-24, 30-26, 30-23 victory over Jacksonville Saturday at Timmons Arena. With the loss, the Dolphins fell to 0-3.

Mercer was led in the match by Jackie Viren, who totaled 20 of the Bears 60 kills. Julie Darty, a freshman from Oviedo, Fla., added 15 kills, while Liz Kane and Katie Plummer each recorded 17 digs. Jacksonville outblocked the Bears 6.0 to 4.0, but had just one service ace to Mercer's seven and were outhit .287 to .221. Kelly Ryals topped the Bears team with 19 kills, and also added a team-best 16 digs.

Lindsay Ward topped JU's net defense with one block solo and three block assists.