Birmingham, Ala. – Izzy Castelloe recorded a career high 15 kills on Thursday evening to lead the Furman volleyball team to a 3-1 (26-28, 25-23, 25-22, 25-23) Southern Conference victory over the Samford Bulldogs inside the Pete Hanna Center.
The Paladins extend their winning streak to four straight matches, improving to 16-6 overall and 7-4 in the SoCon. Samford drops to 10-13 on the season and 5-6 in conference play. Furman collects its first win at Samford since a 3-0 sweep on October 14, 2017, and earned the season sweep over the Bulldogs for the first time since that same year.
Castelloe was one of two Paladins to have over 10 kills in the match, leading the team with 15 on .500 hitting.
Mary Beth Headley contributed her team leading sixth double-double this season after finishing with 13 kills and 12 digs.
Grainne McGrath and
Ava Augustson both had eight kills while
Lindsay Walch provided seven.
Emily Navarro also set a new career high for the third consecutive match dishing out 45 assists. Defensively,
Kennedy Seekford posted a team best 20 digs.
Kaleigh Meritt and Gracie Lynn Butler both collected double-doubles for the Bulldogs. Meritt had a match high 18 kills to go with 11 digs, and Butler added 12 kills and 11 digs. Greer Golden had 12 kills while Kayla Keshock and Lexi Thatcher combined for 45 assists. Kate Morgan led all players with 21 digs.
Furman responded after losing the first set in extra points to win the next four frames to pick up its sixth road win of the season. The first set featured 13 ties with the Paladins sitting at set point twice. Samford collected the final two points to win 28-26.
The Paladins answered in the second set by hitting .244, with Castelloe and Headley combining for 11 kills, for the 25-22 victory. Furman held a 20-14 lead midway through the set following a Bulldog service error. Samford staged a late comeback and evened the score at 23-23. Castelloe recorded back-to-back kills to giving the Paladins the 25-23 victory.
The third set saw the scored tied a total of 11 times with neither team leading by more than three points throughout the frame. Furman trailed in the later stages 21-19 before ending the set on a 6-1 run. Augustson picked up a pair of kills during the run before McGrath captured the set for the Paladins, 25-22, with her kill.
Castelloe added five more kills on .667 hitting in the fourth set as Furman opened on a 7-2 run. The Bulldogs responded with a 14-9 run of their own to tie the score midway at 16-16. Samford would hold a 21-19 advantage before the Paladins came back with five consecutive points to sit at match point, leading 24-21 after two Samford attack errors. The Bulldogs scored two straight points, but Augustson won the set, and match, the following play with her kill.
Furman hit over .200 for the 13
th time this season in the win, totaling a .237 clip.
The Paladins return to Alley Gym on Saturday evening to host Wofford 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.
