Sept. 23, 2005

Box Score

GREENVILLE, South Carolina - Furman's Lady Paladin volleyball team christened the newly renovated Alley Gym in front of a standing room only crowd Friday night, but fell 3-1 (30-23, 23-30, 30-25, 30-16) to the College of Charleston in the Lady Paladins home and conference opener.

"Alley Gym proved to be exactly what we were hoping for," said coach Michelle Young after the match. "It was a great home environment and we look forward to building on it the rest of this year."

Whitney Purser (Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla.) and Chibuzo Aguocha (Houston, Texas) paced Furman with 14 kills each, while sophomore middle hitter Kerry Wooten (Hamptonville, N.C.) added 10. The Lady Paladins outblocked the Cougars 16.0 to 10.0 with Wooten recording one block solo and five block assists in the effort. Ally Hock (Oviedo, Fla.) contributed nine kills and six block assists, while Celestee Wilson (Prairieville, La.) and freshman Emily Harby (Jacsonville, Fla.) each tallied one block solo and four block assists. Kim Tonkin (Marietta, Ga.) anchored the back row with 14 digs on the night, while setter Courtney Stewardson claimed 10 digs to go along with her 45 assists and four block assists.

"We had too many missed opportunities late in the match," said Young. "In the first two and a half game we executed well, but we had a breakdown, especially in our passing game. But it is still early in the season and we know we have to get better."

The Cougars were led in the match by middle blocker Annie Uthe's 15 kils, while Rebecca Wieters added 14 kills and Tiffany Blum contributed 12. Marie Dobrenz, the libero, paced the Cougar defense with 19 digs, while reigning SoCon player of the week Amanda Timmers added 17. College of Charleston recorded 65 digs to Furman's 48, and outhit the Lady Paladins .240 to .148.

With the win the College of Charleston improved to 11-1 overall and 3-0 in the Southern Conference, while the Lady Paladins fell to 4-7 overall and 0-1 in league play. Furman will host the Bulldogs of The Citadel Saturday at noon in Alley Gym, while C of C faces Wofford in Spartanburg.

College of Charleston def. Furman 3-1 (30-23, 23-30, 30-25, 30-16)