Chattanooga, Tenn. – Mikaela Schultz and Neci Harris combined for 26 kills on Sunday afternoon as the Furman volleyball team opened a two-match series against the Chattanooga Mocs with a 3-1 (23-25, 27-25, 25-18, 25-19) victory inside Maclellan Gym.

Furman has now won three consecutive matches to improve its record to 3-2 overall and in the SoCon. With the loss, Chattanooga drops to 4-5 on the season and 2-5 in conference play.

The win also marked the fourth straight victory over the Mocs dating back to the 2018 season.

Schultz tied her career-high of 15 kills to lead the Paladins offensively and added eight digs. Harris finished with 11 kills and a career-high nine blocks. Katie Murphy compiled her first double-double of the season on 36 assists and 11 digs. Andrea Aceveda and Sarah Turner finished with 16 and 10 digs, respectively.

Mikaela Gauthreaux recorded a team-leading nine kills for Chattanooga while MacKenzie Saitta contributed eight. Sophia Bossong and Bailey Steger combined for 37 assists. Defensively, Paige Gallentine led the team with a match-high 26 digs.

In the opening set, the Mocs scored six of the first eight points and held an early 10-6 lead after a Furman service error. The Paladins responded with an 8-5 run and cut their deficit down to 15-14 following a service ace by Maya Mrus. Schultz later tied the score at 18-18 with a kill, forcing Chattanooga into a timeout. The Mocs then reeled off five consecutive points to lead 23-18. Furman got as close as one point twice late with the last coming at 24-23 off Schultz's kill. Chattanooga took the set 25-23 on the following play.

The teams traded the first 10 points of the second set before the Paladins used a 9-2 run to take a 14-7 lead after back-to-back attack errors by the Mocs. Chattanooga followed with a 9-1 run of its own to go ahead 16-15 midway on Kate Neill's kill. After Schultz evened the score at 16-16, the Mocs posted a 7-3 run and led 23-19 after a Furman attack error. Saitta's kill would put Chattanooga at set point leading 24-23. The Paladins made a late charge finishing the set scoring four of the last five points. Neill's attack error gave Furman the 27-25 win to tie the match at 1-1.

For the second straight set, both teams split the first 10 points of the third only to see the Paladins follow up with a 7-3 run to go in front 12-8 after an attack error from Bossong. The Mocs would trim their deficit down to 14-12 but Furman answered by extending its lead out to 21-14 as Murphy capped the run with a kill. A kill by Kaeli Braswell and Chattanooga attack error secured the 25-18 win for the Paladins and gave them a 2-1 lead in the match.

Furman raced out to an 8-0 lead to start the fourth set behind the serving of Harris. The Mocs got to within four, 9-5, but the Paladins came back with a 7-4 run to push their lead out to 16-9 off Murphy's kill. Chattanooga got as close as three points late, 19-16, on a combination block from Gylian Finch and Sarah Flynn. Furman would score six of the final nine points of the set. A kill by Harris secured the 25-19 win for the Paladins, giving them the 3-1 match victory.

Furman concluded the match hitting .154 as a team while limiting the Mocs to just .055 overall including 35 attack errors. The Paladins recorded a season-high 16.0 total blocks, their third time this season finishing with double-digit blocks in a match.

Furman also held the advantage in kills (45-43), assists (44-40), digs (61-56) and service aces (8-7).

The Paladins wrap up their series with Chattanooga on Monday afternoon at 4 p.m.