Spartanburg, S.C. – Bella Tolone and
Maya Mrus both recorded double-doubles on Wednesday evening as the Furman volleyball team opened SoCon play by rallying for a 3-2 (25-23, 27-29, 19-25, 25-23, 15-5) victory over the Wofford Terriers from Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium.
Furman improves to 6-5 on the season and 1-0 in conference play, while Wofford falls to 6-7 overall and 0-1 in the league. The Paladins won their conference opener for the first time since 2017 when they defeated Wofford 3-1 in Spartanburg.
Tolone led all players with a career-high 21 kills while adding 11 digs, three assists and three assisted blocks for her team-leading sixth double-double of the season. Mrus contributed her fourth double-double of the year with 16 kills and a career-high 24 digs.
Neci Harris collected 13 kills and
Andrea Aceveda 18 digs.
Sarah Turner dished out a career-high 42 assists.
Mary Emily Morgan was one of four Terriers with double-digit kills after compiling a team-best 17. Sarah Barham had 13 kills and Meghan Yaffa 12. Addison Foote provided a double-double of 12 kills and 19 digs. Emily Hodsdon had 53 assists and Kennedy Smith 20 digs.
Furman opened the first set scoring four of the initial five points and held a 4-1 lead after a Wofford attack error. The Terriers came back with an 8-4 run to go ahead 9-8, but the Paladins answered with five consecutive points and led 13-9 after Mrus' service ace. Furman would maintain its four-point lead six more times with the last coming at 21-17 when
Natalie Dunn connected on a kill. Wofford rallied to within one, 23-22, forcing a Paladin timeout on Barham's kill. Harris and Tolone recorded the final two kills to give Furman the 25-23 win.
The second set featured 15 ties that began with four in the first 22 points. The Terriers started on a 3-1 run before the Paladins would take an 11-8 advantage on a solo block from Harris, forcing Wofford into a timeout. Mrus kept Furman in front by three midway when her kill made the score 18-15. The Terriers scored the next three points to even the score at 18-18. The score sat tied nine more times after that leading the set into extra points. After Tolone's kill put the score at 27-27, Wofford got a kill from Morgan and Paladin attack error to capture the set 29-27.
The Terriers used a 7-3 run to open the third set to go in front 14-7 after a combination block from Hodsdon and Barham. Furman fought back courtesy of a 7-3 run and trailed 17-14 when Mrus and Harris combined for a block. Wofford responded by increasing its lead back to seven, 22-15, on a kill by Millie Loehr. The Paladins came back to within 22-18 on
Kelsey Watkins' kill, leading to a Terrier timeout. Wofford scored three of the last four points out of the timeout for the 25-19 victory.
Furman took an early 8-5 lead in the fourth set when Tolone registered a kill. The Terriers would then go on a 12-3 run and held a 17-11 lead on Loehr's kill. Wofford led 20-15 late when Barham recorded a kill. The Paladins staged a late rally with a 6-1 run and tied the score at 21-21 on
Ella Abraham's service ace. Following a Terrier timeout, Furman collected the next two points on a pair of attack errors. After Wofford cut the score to 24-23, Harris responded with a kill to give the Paladins the 25-23 win.
Furman continued its momentum into the fifth set by scoring five of the first seven points to lead 5-2 on a combination block from Harris and Tolone. Barham followed a Terrier timeout with a kill to trim the Paladins' lead down to two. Furman broke things open after that by closing the set outscoring Wofford 10-2 highlighted by five consecutive points. Harris scored the final two points for the Paladins with a kill and service ace. Furman won the set 15-5 to secure the 3-2 match victory.
The Paladins concluded with a .181 team hitting percentage and tied their season-high of 11 service aces. Furman also compiled 12 total blocks and held a 71-67 advantage in digs.
The Paladins are off until next weekend, October 1-2, when they remain in SoCon action hosting Chattanooga and East Tennessee State at Alley Gymnasium.
