Johnson City, Tenn. – Brianna Cantrell finished with a match high 16 kills to guide the East Tennessee State Buccaneers to a 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-17) win over the Furman volleyball team in Southern Conference play, Saturday afternoon at Brooks Gym.

With the loss, Furman drops to 4-9 on the season and 0-3 in league play. East Tennessee State improves to 8-6 overall and 2-0 in the conference.

Lauren Haynes came off the bench to lead the Paladins with seven kills while Mary Beth Headley provided six. Sarah Turner dished out 17 assists while registering seven digs. Andrea Aceveda paced Furman defensively with 11 digs and had five assists.

Cantrell led all players with her 16 kills for the Buccaneers and Kimani Johnson added eight. Caroline Dykes contributed 39 assists and Taylor Roberts totaled a match high 14 digs.

The first set featured a total of 11 ties with eight coming in the first 28 points. Neither team led by more than two points during the opening stages with Furman holding a 13-11 advantage when Ava Augustson and Genevieve Perry combined for a block. The Paladins stayed within a point later in the set when Headley's kill made the score 19-18. East Tennessee State responded by scoring five of the next seven points to sit at set point, 24-20. Furman came back with three consecutive points, on two ETSU attack errors and a Sydney Tanner kill, to trail 24-23. The Buccaneers won the set on the following play.

East Tennessee State began the second set on an 8-1 run before the Paladins responded with a 12-3 run of their own, including four kills from Haynes, to lead 13-11. The Buccaneers later tied the score at 14-14 and outscored Furman 11-3 after that for the 25-17 victory.

The third set saw the score tied seven times with each coming during the initial 20 points. The Paladins led twice to start and went in front 5-4 early when Haynes connected on a kill. A service ace from Headley later evened the score at 10-10. ETSU broke the set open courtesy of a 10-4 run to take a 20-14 lead. Furman would be held to three points for the remainder of the set as the Buccaneers went on to the 25-17 triumph and capture the 3-0 match win.

Perry and Grainne McGrath led the Paladins with two blocks apiece (one solo, one assisted). Augustson and Haynes both added an assisted block.

Furman closes out its three-match conference road trip on Wednesday, September 28 traveling to Spartanburg for a 6 p.m. contest at Wofford.