Greenville, S.C. – Mary Beth Headley's double-double helped lift the Furman volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-20, 27-25, 25-17) sweep of the Chattanooga Mocs in Southern Conference play, Saturday evening inside Alley Gymnasium.
With the win, Furman improves to 6-15 on the season and 2-9 in league play. Chattanooga drops to 12-13 overall and 6-4 in the conference.
The Paladins held their Senior Night festivities prior to Saturday's match as the program honored student manager Caroline Singleton,
Andrea Aceveda,
Natalie Dunn,
Sarah Turner and
Kelsey Watkins.
Headley posted her sixth double-double of the season (second-most on the team) after finishing with a match high 14 kills and added 13 digs.
Morgan Cobb recorded a career high eight kills on .316 hitting. Turner dished out 20 assists while
Ella Abraham contributed 18 and seven digs. Defensively, Aceveda collected a season high 24 digs and
Lauren Haynes set a new career high with 18.
Natalie Tyson led the Mocs with 13 kills and added nine digs. Sophia Bossong compiled a double-double of 14 assists and 10 digs while Elaine Redman also registered 14 assists. Halle Olson tallied 16 digs and Paige Gallentine had 12.
The teams traded the first 16 points of the opening set before Furman reeled off five of the next six to lead 13-9 following a kill by Haynes and leading to a Chattanooga timeout. The Paladins maintained their four-point lead midway before the Mocs cut the score down to 17-16, forcing Furman into a timeout. The Paladins responded with another 5-1 run to extend their lead to 22-17 after
Sydney Tanner connected on a kill. Furman scored the final three points on kills from Headley and Watkins for the 25-20 win.
The Paladins started the second set on a 6-1 run capped by Tanner's kill. Chattanooga responded with a 14-5 run and took a 15-11 lead heading to the media timeout. The Mocs led by as many as four points late, 23-19, after a kill. Furman staged a late rally registering four consecutive points to tie the score at 23-23 that ended with back-to-back Chattanooga attack errors. The teams exchanged the next five points before Cobb and Headley notched kills to give the Paladins the 27-25 triumph.
Furman trailed just once in the third set and started by scoring seven of the first 10 points to lead 7-3 when Watkins recorded a solo block. The Mocs would cut their deficit down to two before the Paladins answered with four straight points to lead 13-7, forcing Chattanooga into a timeout, following an attack error. Furman took its largest lead to the set at 17-11 after a ball handling error by the Mocs. Chattanooga rallied back to within two, 17-15, but the Paladins would end the set outscoring the Mocs 8-2. Haynes and Tanner combined for Furman's last three kills of the frame. Haynes secured the 25-17 set victory, and 3-0 match win, with her kill.
The Paladins concluded the contest with eight total blocks led by Watkins' seven on five assisted and two solo. Tanner provided four assisted blocks.
Furman plays its final home match of the regular season on Wednesday, October 26 hosting Wofford 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.
