Charleston, S.C. – Neci Harris led three Paladins with double-figure kills on Monday evening as the Furman volleyball team came back to defeat The Citadel Bulldogs 3-2 (23-25, 25-16, 16-25, 25-22, 15-13) in SoCon action inside McAlister Field House.

With the win, Furman completes the season sweep of the Bulldogs to improve to 2-2 overall and in the SoCon. The Citadel drops to 3-6 on the season and 1-3 in conference play.

Harris, Courtney Hoffman and Mikaela Schultz all recorded 10 or more kills to lead the Paladins offensively. Harris posted a team-high 13 kills while Hoffman and Schultz compiled 12 apiece. Katie Murphy dished out 43 assists to go with six digs and five kills. Andrea Aceveda tallied a season-high 24 digs to lead Furman on defense and Maya Mrus matched her career-best of 10 digs.

Sharlissa de Jesus and Mellanie King both compiled double-doubles to pace the Bulldogs. de Jesus finished with 27 kills and 11 digs while King contributed 20 kills and 14 digs. Amie Greene provided 48 assists. Kenzie Kellerman registered 18 digs and Jaelynn Elgert 10.

The Paladins benefitted from three straight attack errors from The Citadel to score four of the opening five points of the first set. Furman would extend its lead out to five points three times before taking its largest lead of the set at 17-10 on Murphy's kill. Two plays later, a combination block from Mrus and Harris kept the Paladins lead at seven, 18-11. The Bulldogs responded with a 12-5 run to even the score at 23-23. The Citadel closed out the set scoring five straight points for the 25-23 win capped off by a service ace.

Furman stepped up defensively in the second set holding the Bulldogs to -.135 hitting, forcing 12 attack errors on 37 attempts. The Citadel scored the first three points before the Paladins responded with a 9-3 run to go ahead 9-6 after back-to-back Bulldog attack errors. The Citadel got as close as two points twice with the last coming at 12-10 but would be outscored 13-6 the rest of the way. Furman went on an 11-3 run midway to take its largest lead at 23-13 off a solo block from Mrus. A kill by Harris and another solo block from Mrus gave the Paladins the 25-16 win.

The Bulldogs scored 12 of the opening 16 points of the third set and built their lead out to 12-4. Furman then used a 6-3 run of its own to get to within five, 15-10, following Natalie Dunn's kill. A 7-3 run from The Citadel broke the set open as it led 22-13 late. The Bulldogs would go on to capture the set 25-16.

The Paladins stormed out to an 8-2 lead to begin the fourth set including a stretch of five straight points. The Citadel answered back with a 10-4 run of its own to even the score at 12-12. The Bulldogs later recorded four consecutive points and held a 20-16 lead following a service ace. Schultz highlighted the next five points as her three kills gave Furman the lead back at 21-20. With the score tied at 21-21, the Paladins scored four of the last five points for the 25-22 victory with Schultz winning the set after her kill.

The Citadel began the fifth, and final, set on a 6-2 run which was capped by back-to-back kills from King. Furman responded with an 8-4 run, which ended on Harris' kill, to tie the score at 10-10. After the Bulldogs went in front 12-11, the Paladins ended the set scoring four of the last five points for the 15-13 set win and 3-2 match victory. Hoffman picked up Furman's final two kills of the set with her last securing the win.

The Paladins concluded the match with a season-high .219 hitting percentage and held a 13.0-8.0 advantage in total blocks. The Citadel posted a .141 team hitting percentage. Both teams finished with 66 digs.

Furman is off until Feb. 21-22 when it travels to Chattanooga, Tenn. for a two-match series at Chattanooga.