Oct. 18, 2008

Box Score

GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Furman Paladins picked up another league win with a thrilling five-set victory over Appalachian State on Saturday night, in the first annual Susan G. Komen "Dig for the Cure" match.

The match started off with several errors on both sides of the net, keeping the first set close until the Paladins managed to take a three-point lead at 14-11. The Paladins widened their lead to four at 20-16, but then saw the Mountaineers fight back on a 6-2 run to tie the score at 22. With two kills each from Becca Norris and Maja Jechorek, Appalachian State took the first set 26-24.

The Mountaineers carried their momentum over to the second set, jumping out to an early 3-0 lead. Furman fought back to even the score at six and seemed to be in control of the second set, leading by as many as five. The Mountaineers surged back to tie the score at 15, and took a small lead at 16, but the Paladins responded to take the second set 25-22, evening the match.

Despite a close beginning, Appalachian State seemed to control the entire third set, taking a 21-12 lead and winning the set 25-18. With the Mountaineers taking a 16-10 lead in the fourth set, it looked like Appalachian State would take the match. The Paladins fought back, led by two service aces and a kill from senior Alison West. Furman went on an 11-3 run late in the game, taking a 21-19 lead. The Mountaineers hung on, forcing five tied scores before the Paladins finished the set off a kill by West, one by Emily Harby and another by Kelly Kirby. Furman took the fourth set 28-26, forcing a fifth set.

Furman dominated the fifth set, jumping out to a 5-0 lead before taking the fifth and final set 15-6 to take the match 3-2.

Junior Maja Jechorek led the Mountaineers with 24 kills and a .377 hitting percentage. She also added 13 kills to the effort. Libero Heather Kale led the floor defense with 23 digs.

The Paladins were led by outside hitter West, who tallied 18 kills and 17 digs for her eighth double-double of the season. West also added five service aces to the winning effort. Freshman Alexis Shaffer and sophomore Katherine Hall added 11 kills each, and senior Nicole Palazzo notched 10 kills and led the team with five total blocks. Sophomore Brooke Ellison and senior Pamela Gehrke contributed 16 digs each. The Paladins tallied 69 total team digs on "Dig for the Cure" night. Furman also had 13 total blocks and 11 service aces in the match.

With the win, Furman improves to 12-9 on the season and 5-3 in the Southern Conference, while Appalachian State falls to 4-18 and remains undefeated at 0-8 in league play. The Paladins will face cross-town rival Wofford on Wednesday at a 6:00 p.m. match in Spartanburg.