Greenville, S.C. – Nicole Mack had a match-high 17 kills, and was one of four Paladins to finish with double-digit kills, on Friday evening as the Furman volleyball team opened SoCon play dropping a 3-1 (26-24, 26-28, 22-25, 23-25) decision to the East Tennessee State Buccaneers at Alley Gymnasium.
Furman falls to 0-12 on the season and 0-1 in conference play while East Tennessee State improves to 10-3 overall and 1-0 in the SoCon.
The first set featured 16 ties and nine lead changes. The opening stages saw the score even seven times with the last coming at 7-7 on a kill by Mack. The Buccaneers would go ahead by two points twice after that with the last coming at 11-9 on Lauren Hatch's kill. After the Paladins went ahead 13-12, East Tennessee State posted a 6-2 run and led 18-15 after a Furman service error. The Paladins responded with a 5-1 run of their own and took a 20-19 lead on a combination block from
Courtney Hoffman and
Gabby Howard. The Buccaneers then scored four of the next five points and held a 23-21 advantage, forcing Furman into a timeout. The Paladins came out of the timeout and closed the set on a 5-1 run to win, 26-24, on Mack's kill.
The teams traded the opening eight points of the second set as
Katie Murphy evened the score at 4-4 with her kill. East Tennessee State then scored the next four points to lead 8-4 on Kaela Massey's service ace. Furman later tied the score at 13-13 off a Buccaneer attack error. East Tennessee State led by as many as four points four times after that with the last coming at 22-18 on Massey's kill. The Paladins answered with a 5-1 run to come back and tie the score at 23-23 when
Neci Harris connected on a kill. The set went into extra points with Furman sitting at set point, 25-24, on a kill by Hoffman and forcing ETSU into a timeout. The teams exchanged the next three points before the Buccaneers scored the last two to win, 28-26.
The Paladins jumped out to a two-point lead five times to start the third set before Howard extended their advantage to 9-6 following her kill. East Tennessee State later tied the score at 9-9 off a Furman attack error. The teams then followed by tying the score a total of six times midway with the last coming at 16-16 on a kill by Mack. The Buccaneers responded with four of the next five points and later held a 22-19 lead. The Paladins got as close as two points twice in the closing stages. A kill by Hoffman would make the score 24-22 as ETSU called a timeout. The Buccaneers captured the set, 25-22, the next play.
East Tennessee State scored 10 of the first 14 points of the fourth set and held a six-point lead after a bad set by Furman. The Paladins cut their deficit down to three points a total of seven times after that with the last coming at 17-14 when Hoffman registered a kill. The Buccaneers led by as many as five points in the set but Furman never trailed by more than three in the later stages. The Paladins got back-to-back kills from Hoffman and
Andrea Aceveda to make the score 24-23. East Tennessee State came out of the timeout and got a kill from Olivia Cunningham to win the set, 25-23, and match, 3-1.
Furman recorded a season-high .310 hitting percentage in the match, which marked the first time since September 29, 2018 versus The Citadel that it hit over .300 as a team. For the second straight match, and third time this season, the Paladins compiled double-digit blocks after finishing with 11.0.
Mack led four players with 10 or more kills after finishing with 17. Hoffman set new career-highs with 16 kills and a .750 hitting percentage. Harris added 12 kills and Howard 11. Murphy dished out a career-high 53 assists while
Sarah Turner also set a new career-best with 11 digs. Aceveda led the team with 16 digs.
Hatch had a team-leading 15 kills for the Buccaneers and led four players in double-figures. Emily Arnold contributed 50 assists and Marija Popvic 17 digs.
Furman continues conference play, and its five-match homestand, on Saturday evening when it hosts Western Carolina at 7 p.m.
