Johnson City, Tenn. – Courtney Hoffman and
Nicole Mack both had a team-high 14 kills on Friday evening as the Furman volleyball team extended its winning streak to four matches with a 3-2 (25-18, 25-19, 16-25, 15-25, 15-10) victory over the league-leading East Tennessee State Buccaneers at Brooks Gymnasium.
The Paladins, who also ended ETSU's eight-match winning streak, improves to 5-15 on the season and 5-4 in SoCon play. The Buccaneers fall to 17-4 overall and 8-1 in the conference.
Furman began the match by scoring five of the first six points to take a 5-1 lead following an East Tennessee State attack error. The Buccaneers followed with an 8-3 run to go ahead 9-8, capping a 5-0 run, on Sara Esposito's service ace. The Paladins responded with a 7-1 run of their own to take the lead back at 15-10 when Mack connected on a kill, forcing East Tennessee State into a timeout. Furman maintained its five-point advantage at 19-14 after a Buccaneer service error. The Paladins closed out the set outscoring East Tennessee State 6-4 for the 25-18 victory on a kill by
Neci Harris.
Furman scored four of the first five points of the second set and held a 4-1 advantage after Mack's kill. The Buccaneers answered with a 7-4 run and evened the score at 8-8 when Olivia Cunningham recorded a kill. The Paladins then went on a 12-4 run and held their largest lead of the set, 20-12, on an ETSU attack error. The Buccaneers made a late rally with a 5-1 run and trailed 21-17 after Cunningham's kill, forcing Furman into a timeout. The Paladins came out of the timeout to hold East Tennessee State to just two points. A kill by
Natalie Dunn and an ETSU attack error gave Furman the 25-19 win.
The Buccaneers recorded the first three points of the third set and jumped out to an early 8-4 lead when Cunningham registered a kill. The Paladins rallied with a 6-2 run and trailed 11-10 when Dunn tallied a service ace. East Tennessee State broke the set open courtesy of a 12-5 run and led 23-15 off another kill from Cunningham. A kill by Esposito gave the Buccaneers the 25-16 victory.
Lydia Morris gave Furman an early 4-3 lead to begin the fourth set with her kill. East Tennessee State then used a 7-1 run to go in front 10-5 off a Paladin attack error. Furman stayed within a four-point margin several times midway with the last coming at 18-14 on an ETSU attack error. The Buccaneers outscored the Paladins 7-1 after that to secure the 25-15 win.
Furman scored five of the opening seven points of the fifth set and led 5-2 when Hoffman connected on a kill. Harris maintained the Paladins' two-point advantage, 8-6, after registering a kill. East Tennessee State came back with three consecutive points to take a 9-8 advantage, leading to a Furman timeout. With the scored tied at 10-10, the Paladins finished the set on a strong note scoring the final five points highlighted by kills from Dunn, Harris and Mack. A Buccaneer attack error gave Furman the 15-10 set victory and 3-2 match win.
Hoffman and Mack both recorded 14 kills to lead the Paladins offensively. Hoffman concluded the match with a .500 hitting percentage, committing just one attack error on 26 attempts. Mack compiled her team-leading eighth double-double of the season after finishing with a career-best 22 digs. Harris added 11 kills.
Katie Murphy just missed on a double-double after dishing out 42 assists to go with nine digs.
Andrea Aceveda also had 20 digs.
Cunningham and Lauren Hatch each had a double-double to pace ETSU on offense. Hatch led all players with 21 kills and posted 17 digs while Cunningham had 18 kills and 16 digs. Emily Arnold contributed 47 assists and Marija Popvic 22 digs.
Furman recorded a .204 team hitting percentage and posted 7.0 total blocks. The Paladins also forced the Buccaneers into 28 attack errors while ETSU committed 10 service errors.
Furman travels to Cullowhee, N.C. on Saturday afternoon for a 12 p.m. match against Western Carolina.
