Greenville, S.C. – Kennedy Smith and Victoria Hensley both had double-doubles to lead the Wofford Terriers to a 3-2 (14-25, 25-22, 29-31, 25-22, 9-15) victory over the Furman volleyball team in the Paladins' final home match of the regular season, Wednesday evening in Southern Conference action from Alley Gymnasium.
Furman drops to 6-16 on the season and 2-10 in SoCon play. With the win, Wofford improves to 13-10 overall and 5-6 in the conference.
Mary Beth Headley and
Ella Abraham both collected double-doubles for the Paladins. Headley registered her seventh of the season on career highs of 22 kills and 20 digs, while Abraham contributed 20 assists and a season best 11 digs.
Grainne McGrath posted 12 kills on .522 hitting and
Sydney Tanner and
Lauren Haynes both had nine.
Sarah Turner provided 25 assists and eight digs. Defensively,
Andrea Aceveda finished with a season high 25 digs and Haynes collected a career best 21.
Smith led the Terriers offensively with 16 kills and added 15 digs while Hensley dished out 35 assists to go with 10 digs. Bella Zeman tallied 13 kills and Abbey Richman led all players with a match high 27 digs.
Wofford began the first set on an 8-2 run before Furman came back with four straight points to trail 8-6 following Headley's service ace. The Terriers broke the set open with a 13-4 run and went on to capture the set 25-14.
The second set saw the teams trade the initial 14 points before the Paladins used a 10-4 run to jump ahead 17-11 after a kill by Headley. Wofford fought back by scoring eight of the next 12 points and cut Furman's lead down to 21-19. The Paladins then recorded the next three points off kills from Tanner, McGrath and Headley. McGrath gave Furman the 25-22 victory with her kill.
A total of 17 ties and 11 lead changes highlighted the third set that saw Headley and McGrath combine for 13 of the Paladins' 20 kills. The Paladins took an early 6-3 lead on McGrath's service ace, but the Terriers used an 11-4 run to hold a 14-10 advantage. Furman would then outscore Wofford 10-6 and evened the score late when Headley's kill made the score 20-20. The teams exchanged the next 18 points and sat tied at 29-29 after Headley registered a kill. The Terriers scored the last two points on a Paladin attack error and kill for the 31-29 triumph.
Furman never trailed throughout the fourth set and began the frame scoring the first five points capped by Haynes' kill. The Paladins maintained a five-point advantage midway before taking their largest lead of the set at 23-16 following a Wofford ball handling error. The Terriers made a late rally and trailed 24-22 after going on a 6-1 run. Furman staged off the rally to win 25-22 after back-to-back kills from Tanner and Haynes. Aceveda finished the set with 10 digs.
The Paladins started the fifth set picking up three of the first four points before Wofford followed with four of the next five to lead 5-4. Headley answered for Furman on the next play, tying the score at 5-5 with her kill. The Terriers closed out the set on a 10-4 run to win 15-9 and took the match 3-2.
For the sixth time this season, the Paladins recorded double-digit blocks after finishing with 11. Watkins registered a team high six (three solo, three assisted) and McGrath added five (four assisted, one solo).
Furman begins its season-ending four-match road trip next weekend, November 4-5, at Samford and Mercer.
