Birmingham, Ala. –  Erin Bognar put down 14 kills and led Samford to a 3-0 (18-25, 22-25, 23-25) win over the Paladins on Friday night. The loss drops Furman to 16-7 on the year and 10-3 in SoCon play, while the win moves Samford to 11-11 on the year and 6-6 in SoCon play.

Annie Bierman led the Paladins with 9 kills, while Meg DeMaar, as well as Bierman, added 13 digs.  

Samford opened up an early 11-5 lead in set one, forcing Furman to take an early timeout. Out of the timeout, the Bulldogs pushed the lead to seven at 12-5, but Furman used a 5-0 run to cut the set to two at 12-10 and force a Samford timeout. The Bulldogs pushed the lead back to four at 14-10, 16-12, and 17-13, then took an 18-13 lead and forced Furman to call its final timeout of the set. The teams then traded points until Samford used a 4-0 run to close it out and take set one, 25-18, for a 1-0 match lead.

The teams traded points in set two until Samford used a 3-0 record to open up a 13-10 lead. Furman rallied to cut the lead to one at 14-13, but the Bulldogs used back-to-back kills to push the lead back to three at 16-13. Furman then called its first timeout of the set after a Paladin error gave the Bulldogs its largest lead at 17-13.  The teams then traded points until Samford opened up a four-point lead at 22-18. Furman would not go down quietly, however, using a 3-1 run to cut the Samford lead to two at 23-21, forcing the Bulldogs to take a timeout. Out of the timeout, the Bulldogs used a kill by Erin Bognar to push the lead back to three, prompting the Paladins to take their final timeout of the set. Furman used a kill by Jamila Johnson to pull within two, but the Bulldogs held off the Paladin rally to take set two, 25-22, for a 2-0 match lead.

The Bulldogs opened up another early lead in set three, forcing a Furman timeout after taking an 8-1 advantage. The Paladins rallied out of the timeout to cut the lead to three at 9-6, but the Bulldogs pushed the lead back to five at 13-8. Furman again rallied to cut the lead to two at 15-13, but Samford used a 5-1 run to grab a 20-14 lead and force a Furman timeout. The Paladins rallied to cut the lead to four at 24-20, but Samford held off the Paladin comeback to take set three, 25-20, for a 3-0 match win. 

Furman is back in action on Saturday, traveling to Chattanooga, Tenn., for a 6:00 pm matchup with the Mocs.