Chattanooga, Tenn. – Courtney Hoffman had a career-high 19 kills, while Nicole Mack and Katie Murphy both contributed double-doubles, as the Furman volleyball team rallied from two sets down to defeat the Chattanooga Mocs 3-2 (25-27, 16-25, 33-31, 25-23, 15-11) on Saturday evening at Maclellan Gym.

Furman improves to 2-15 on the season and 2-4 in conference play while Chattanooga falls to 5-14 overall and 0-6 in the league.

The Mocs scored the opening three points of the first set before the Paladins came back to take a 10-8 lead off a Chattanooga attack and ball handling error. After the Mocs evened the score at 10-10, Furman would go on a 7-1 run and took a 17-11 lead off a kill by Hoffman. A Chattanooga service error maintained the Paladins' four-point advantage at 22-18. The Mocs closed out the set on a 9-3 run, forcing extra points, and won 27-25 on Brianna Anderson's service ace.

Furman led by as many as two points twice during the first 20 points of the second set with the last coming at 10-8 on a Chattanooga service error. Murphy kept the Paladins within one point, 12-11, midway following her kill. The Mocs would outscore Furman 13-5 after that for the 25-16 victory.

The third set would also head into extra points and saw the score tied a total of eight times. Chattanooga began the set on a 5-2 run before the Paladins cut the deficit to 9-8 after three consecutive Moc errors. Chattanooga held a 21-15 advantage late after a service ace by Maddie Halsey. Furman answered by going on a 10-3 run and sat at set point, 25-24, after Murphy connected on a kill. The score would be tied seven times after that with Anderson making the score 31-31 with her kill. Mack and Lydia Morris posted back-to-back kills to earn the 33-31 win.

The fourth set had a total of 13 ties including five in the first 16 points. Hoffman gave the Paladins an early 8-6 lead after recording a kill. Hoffman later put Furman ahead 18-16 following another kill. The teams would tie the score five times over the next several plays as a kill from Mack made it 23-23. The Paladins concluded the set on a 4-1 run, including the final three points, to secure the 25-23 victory after a Moc attack error.

Chattanooga took an early 5-3 lead in the fifth set off a Furman attack error. The Paladins responded by scoring four of the next six points to even the score at 7-7 on a Moc attack error. Furman continued its run after that to take a 13-9 lead when Hoffman and Mack combined for a block. Gabby Howard won the set, 15-11, for the Paladins with her kill and gave them the 3-2 match victory.

Hoffman set a new career-high with 19 kills to lead Furman offensively. Neci Harris contributed 15 kills and Mack added 14. Mack compiled her team-leading fifth double-double of the season after finishing with a career-best 21 digs. Murphy contributed her third double-double this season on 47 assists and a career-high 14 digs, while falling just two kills shy of a triple-double with eight. Mack and Murphy were two of four players to record double-digit digs along with Andrea Aceveda and Sarah Turner, who had 13 apiece.

Gylian Finch and Maia Rackel tallied a team-leading 20 kills each for Chattanooga while Sarah Root had 10. Finch had a double-double after compiling 10 digs. Halsey also recorded a double-double with 52 assists and 19 digs.

The Paladins finished with a season-high 15.0 total blocks, marking the fifth time this year they have recorded double-figure blocks in a match.

Furman returns home to Alley Gymnasium on Wednesday, October 16 when it hosts UNC Greensboro in conference play at 6 p.m.