Greenville, S.C. – Bailey Hartsough had a match high 20 kills to lead the Western Carolina Catamounts to a 3-2 (25-19, 18-25, 21-25, 25-19, 15-7) victory over the Furman Paladins in Southern Conference volleyball action, Friday evening inside Alley Gymnasium.

With the win, Western Carolina improves to 13-7 on the season and 6-2 in SoCon play. Furman drops to 4-13 overall and 0-7 in the conference.

Mary Beth Headley, Sarah Turner and Ava Augustson all recorded double-doubles to lead the Paladins. Headley posted a team high 16 kills to go with 12 digs for her fourth double-double of the season. Turner provided her team-leading eighth double-double on 24 assists and a career high 26 digs. Augustson contributed her fourth double-double after finishing with 11 kills and 14 digs.

Grainne McGrath posted a .423 hitting percentage for the contest and had 14 kills while setting a new career high of eight blocks (six assisted, two solo). Ella Abraham dished out a season best 23 assists and Andrea Aceveda added 21 digs.

Hartsough, who also had 16 digs to finish with a double-double, was one of three Catamount players who had double-digit kills along with Livi Weidmann (13) and Brooklyn Poling (12). Sydney Carlson (30) and Sarah Janourova (21) combined for 51 assists. Destinee Dorsey led all players with 27 digs while Merry Gebel totaled 14.

Western Carolina opened the first set on a 7-3 run before Furman responded with a 5-2 run of its own to trail 9-8 on Augustson's kill. The Catamounts broke the set open with a 12-7 run and held a 21-15 lead late, forcing a Paladin timeout. Furman scored four of the next six points out of the timeout, but Western Carolina recorded the last two for the 25-19 win.

The second set featured a total of 10 ties with the Paladins tallying a .458 hitting percentage, recording 13 kills on 24 attempts with just two errors. Kelsey Watkins led Furman with four kills during the frame while McGrath and Headley both had three. Seven of the ties came within the initial 20 points with the final one coming at 15-15. The Paladins outscored the Catamounts 10-3 after that with McGrath and Sydney Tanner capturing the set with their combination block.

The third set was also highlighted by nine ties and seven lead changes. The set went back-and-forth with both teams leading by no more than three points for a majority of the frame. With the score tied at 19-19, Furman registered four consecutive points behind the serving of Headley with Augustson picking up three straight kills. Her last extended the Paladins' lead to 23-19. Furman went on the win the set 25-21 on a Western Carolina attack error.

The Catamounts scored 10 of the first 15 points of the fourth set and maintained their five-point advantage midway when a kill made the score 17-12. The Paladins staged a late rally and trailed by just two points three times with the last coming at 20-18 when McGrath connected on a kill. Western Carolina closed out the set on a 5-1 run for the 25-19 triumph.

Headley gave Furman an early 4-3 lead in the fifth set after picking up her second kill of the frame. The Catamounts answered with nine of the next 10 points and went on to secure the 15-7 set win and 3-2 match victory.

For the fifth time this season, the Paladins concluded the match with double-figure blocks as a team after recording 14 led by McGrath's eight. Tanner added a career high seven blocks (six assisted, one solo).

Furman concludes the homestand on Saturday evening when it hosts UNC Greensboro at 7 p.m. Fans can follow the action on www.furmanpaladins.com via live stats. The match is also being streamed via paid subscription on ESPN+.

Tickets are $5 and can be purchased on www.furmanpaladins.com or at the main entrance of Alley Gymnasium. Tickets for Furman students are free with their student ID.