Cullowhee, N.C. – Jamila Johnson put down 11 kills in the final two sets and Furman volleyball downed Mercer, 3-1 (25-22, 19-25, 25-13, 25-20) to secure a spot in the Southern Conference semifinals on Sunday. The win moves the Paladins to 19-8 on the season, while the loss ends Mercer's season at 10-19.

Johnson led Furman and tied a career-high with 17 kills, tallying just one error to hit .516 on the match. The freshman from Greenville, S.C., also added two digs and an assist in the match for a team-high 17 points. SoCon Player of the Year Annie Bierman put down 14 kills and tallied 18 digs for her 18^th double-double on the season, while setter Jo WIlks dished out 48 assists, further adding to her Furman career assists record.

Mercer had three players tally double-digit kills, while libero Tori Penrod turned in a match-high 28 digs.

The teams traded points in the early going, until Mercer used a 4-0 run to grab a 17-14 lead and force Furman to call a timeout. Out of the timeout, the teams again traded points until it was the Paladins that used a 3-0 run of their own to tie the set at 18 and force the Bears to call their first timeout. The teams again traded points until Furman capitalized on a Bear error and got a kill from Annie Bierman to take a 23-21 lead, prompting Mercer to take its final timeout of the set. The Bears pulled to within one at 23-22, but a kill by Carris Campbell and a block by Campbell and Amelia Bohlander gave Furman the 25-22 set one victory and 1-0 match lead.

Mercer jumped out to an early 9-3 lead in set two, leading the Paladins to call its first timeout of the set. The Bears kept their foot on the gas pedal, pushing the lead to seven at 17-10, and eventually taking set two, 25-19, to tie the match at 1. Furman ran out to a 9-3 lead in set three, then pushed the lead to 14-5 forcing the Bears to call both of their timeouts early in the set. The Paladins pushed the lead to 10 at 16-6, then again at 22-12. The Paladins grabbed set point at 24-12, then again at 24-13, before a block by Bohlander and Christen SIkora gave Furman the 25-13 set three win and 2-1 match lead.

The Bears took an early 4-1 lead in set four, but the Paladins rallied to tie the set at six. Mercer then used three-straight points to take a 9-6 lead before the Paladins used a Bohlander kill to stop the Bears' run and cut the lead to 9-7. The teams then traded points until Mercer pushed the lead to five at 14-9, forcing Furman to call a timeout. Out of the timeout, the Paladins used three-straight kills by Bierman to cut the Mercer lead to 14-12 and prompt the Bears to call their first timeout of the set. The teams traded points again until Furman grabbed the 17-16 lead. Mercer used back-to-back points to regain the lead at 18-17, but the Paladins rattled off four-straight to take a 21-18 lead and force Mercer into its final timeout of the set. Out of the timeout, Mercer cut the lead to two at 21-19, but the Paladins closed out the match on a 4-1 run to take set four, 25-20, and the match, 3-1.

Furman is back in action on Sunday, November 22, taking on the winner of the Wofford/UNCG quarterfinal match at 4:30 p.m. in a SoCon semifinal matchup.