Greenville, S.C. – Mary Beth Headley had a match high 15 kills, while Furman hit a season high .352, as the Paladins completed the season sweep of the East Tennessee State Buccaneers following a 3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-23) Southern Conference victory, Thursday evening inside Alley Gym.
Furman improves to 14-6 overall and 5-4 in the SoCon. With the loss, East Tennessee State drops to 2-18 on the season and 2-7 in league play. The Paladins earned the season sweep over the Buccaneers for the first time since 2015 while Thursday's three-set sweep was Furman's first against ETSU since 2017.
The Paladins' .352 hitting percentage represents the highest clip turned in since posting a .384 mark during a 3-0 win over The Citadel on November 1, 2017.
Headley hit .483 for the match to lead all players with her 15 kills and totaled three blocks along with
Izzy Castelloe.
Grainne McGrath, who had a .500 hitting percentage, finished with eight kills along with
Lauren Haynes and
Lindsay Walch.
Emily Navarro set a new career high with 41 assists. Defensively,
Kennedy Seekford turned in a match high 11 digs.
Brianna Cantrell and Amanda Lowe registered 11 and 10 kills, respectively, to pace East Tennessee State. Alex Kreutzmann and Malgorzata Andersohn both dished out 13 assists. Melanie Morris led the team with 10 digs.
Furman hit .433 during the opening set with Headley and Walch combining for nine kills. The Paladins recorded 10 of the first 14 points and held a 15-10 advantage heading into the media timeout after Walch connected on a kill. Furman outscored the Buccaneers 10-5 out of the break and captured the set when Castelloe and Walch teamed up for a block.
The teams split the initial eight points of the second set before the Paladins used a 10-7 run to go ahead 14-11 on McGrath's kill. ETSU would even the score at 16-16 midway only to see Furman answer by scoring five of the next six points, capped by Navarro's service ace, to lead 21-17. East Tennessee State followed with the next three points, leading to a Paladin timeout ahead 21-20. Furman picked up four of the last six points to win 25-22 on Walch's kill. The Paladins would hit .308 in the second set.
The third set featured a total of nine ties and four lead changes. ETSU started the frame scoring five of the first six points. Furman responded with a 9-5 run and tied the score at 10-10 when McGrath registered a kill. The Buccaneers then used a 5-1 run to go in front 15-11. The Paladins evened the score, this time at 20-20, when McGrath capped a 9-5 run with a kill. ETSU tied the score again late at 23-23, but Haynes and Headley combined for back-to-back kills to give Furman the 25-23 victory and 3-0 match win.
The Paladins improve 6-1 at Alley Gym this season and tie their most home victories since also tallying six in 2018.
Furman closes out its four-match homestand on Friday hosting Western Carolina at 7 p.m. Fans can follow the action on www.furmanpaladins.com via live stats. The match is being streamed via paid subscription on ESPN+. Updates will also be posted on the Furman volleyball Twitter page (@FurmanVB). Admission to all Paladin home matches this season is free of charge with first-come, first-serve seating.
