Chattanooga, Tenn. – Morgan Romano and Gylian Finch combined for 25 kills to lead the Chattanooga Mocs to a 3-0 (22-25, 22-25, 24-26) sweep of the Furman Paladins in Southern Conference volleyball action, Friday evening at Maclellan Gym.
Furman drops to 12-4 overall and 3-2 in the SoCon. With the win, Chattanooga improves to 15-5 on the season and 3-2 in conference play.
Grainne McGrath and
Mary Beth Headley both paced the Paladin offense with a team high nine kills while Headley added 12 digs.
Ella Abraham totaled her team leading fourth double-double of the year with 27 assists and 10 digs. Defensively,
Kennedy Seekford registered a match high 21 digs and
Lauren Haynes contributed five assisted blocks.
Romano led all players with 15 kills for the Mocs and Finch finished with a double-double of 10 kills and 12 digs. Elaine Redman also posted a double-double of 29 assists and 11 digs. Paige Gallentine tallied a team best 20 digs.
In a match that featured 24 ties and nine lead changes, Furman held a late lead in all three sets before Chattanooga rallied back to win each frame by a combined eight points.
The Paladins led 17-12 midway through the first set on
Lindsay Walch's service ace before
Izzy Castelloe kept Furman in front 20-14 with her kill. The Mocs outscored the Paladins 11-2 the remainder of the set to claim the 25-22 victory.
In the second set, Chattanooga led 14-9 before Furman used a 12-5 run to go ahead 21-19 late off a service ace from Haynes. The Mocs closed out the set scoring six of the final seven points for the 25-22 win.
The third set saw the score tied a total of 11 times. The Paladins opened the frame on a 5-1 run and took a four-point lead when Haynes and
Genevieve Perry combined for a block. Chattanooga would tie the score at 7-7 and neither team led by more than three points the remainder of the set. Walch gave Furman a 22-21 lead following her kill and
Ava Augustson sent the set into extra points when her kill put the score at 24-24. Chattanooga scored the final two points to win 26-24 and secure the 3-0 match victory.
The Paladins concluded the match hitting .135 as a team led by McGrath's .450 clip.
Furman is back in action Saturday evening when it travels to Macon, Ga. for a 6 p.m. first serve at Mercer. 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).