Spartanburg, S.C. – Neci Harris had a career-high 21 kills on Saturday evening, and was one of three players to finish with 10 or more kills, as the Furman volleyball team dropped a 3-1 (15-25, 23-25, 25-23, 28-30) road decision in conference play to the Wofford Terriers at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium.
Furman falls to 5-18 on the season and 5-7 in SoCon play while Wofford improves to 13-13 overall and 6-6 in the conference.
The Paladins opened the match by scoring two of the first three points and held a 2-1 lead early after Harris connected on a kill. The Terriers followed with an 8-2 run and led 9-4 after Meghan Yaffa recorded a kill. Furman answered by recording four consecutive points and trailed 9-8 following a
Lydia Morris kill. A Wofford attack error kept the Paladins' deficit at one point, 11-10. Harris later made the score 14-12 with her kill. The Terriers closed out the set with an 11-3 run to win 25-15.
The teams traded the first eight points of the second set as Furman evened the score at 4-4 when
Nicole Mack registered a kill. After Wofford went in front 8-4, the Paladins came back with a 6-3 run and trailed 11-10 after Mack's kill. The Terriers broke the set open courtesy of a 9-3 run and took a 20-13 advantage, forcing Furman into a timeout. The Paladins made a late rally with a 10-4 run of their own and put the score at 24-23 after a service ace from Mack. Wofford captured the set on the following play.
Furman started the third set on a 4-1 run and led by three after a kill by
Courtney Hoffman. The Terriers would then outscore the Paladins 14-4 and led 15-8 midway on Kara Shacklette's kill. Trailing 19-14, Furman came back with a 13-6 run and tied the score at 21-21 after Harris' kill. Mack and Harris combined for back-to-back kills after that to give the Paladins a 23-21 lead.
Katie Murphy secured the 25-23 set win for Furman with her kill.
The Paladins scored six of the first eight points of the fourth set and held a 6-2 lead off a bad set by Wofford. The Terriers fought back and trailed 9-7 when Catie Cronister recorded a kill. Furman increased its lead out to 17-10, its largest of the set, after going on an 8-3 run capped by a kill from Murphy. Hoffman later kept the Paladins' lead at seven points, 19-12, with her kill. Wofford responded by with a 12-3 run and held a 22-20 advantage as Cronister made it a two-point set following her kill.
Sarah Turner recorded back-to-back service aces as Furman tied the score at 22-22. The teams exchanged the next 13 points before the Terriers picked up a kill by Cronister and service ace from Bella Zeman to win the set, 30-28, and match, 3-1.
Harris led the Paladins offensively with a career-high 21 kills and concluded the match with a .500 hitting percentage. Mack contributed 16 kills and nine digs while Hoffman added 11 kills and a .421 hitting percentage. Murphy tallied 43 assists and seven digs.
Andrea Aceveda led all players with a match-high 15 digs and Turner added 11.
Cronister recorded a double-double of 20 kills and 11 digs to lead Wofford. Cronister was one of four players to finish with double-digit kills along with Riley Coonan (12), Yaffa (11) and Claire Meier (10). Lorissa King had 49 assists and Chasidy Sharpe 12 digs.
Furman returns home next weekend, November 8-9, to host Chattanooga and Samford in its final home matches of the season.
