Oct. 4, 2005

Box Score

CULLOWHEE, North Carolina - Furman sophomore Chibuzo Aguocha (Houston, Texas) scored a career-best 29 kills in Southern Conference volleyball action Tuesday night at Western Carolina, but the Lady Paladins came up short, 3-2, to fall to 5-10 overall and 1-4 in league play.

The Catamounts of WCU jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the match with wins of 30-20 and 30-28 in the first two games before the Lady Paladins roared back with wins of 30-26 and 30-28 to knot the score at 2-2.

The Lady Paladins were down 11-5 in the decisive fifth game, but went on an 8-3 run to make it 14-13 before ending the comeback bid with a service error that gave the Cats the match with a 15-13 final game win.

Aguocha's 29 kills and .286 hitting percentage were complimented by a team-high 19 digs, while junior outside hitter Whitney Purser (Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla.) recorded 23 kills, a .214 attack percentage, and 16 digs in the loss. Senior Molly Rybak (Bloomington, Minn.) recorded 47 assists on the night, while Kim Tonkin (Marietta, Ga.) added 18 digs. Furman outblocked the Cats 9.0 to 6.0

Five members of the Western Carolina team recorded double-digit kills on the night, but the effort was led by Ellie Talbot, who tallied 16 kills and 21 digs in the win. Kate Willard led the team defensively with 30 digs.

With the win, the Cats improved to 5-13 overall and 4-3 in Southern Conference play.

Furman returns to action on Friday, Oct. 7, in a 7 p.m. match at Elon.