Greenville, S.C. – The Furman volleyball team begins postseason play on Friday morning when the fifth-seeded Paladins face the No. 4 seed Samford Bulldogs in the quarterfinals of the SoCon Volleyball Championship at 11:30 a.m. from Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium in Spartanburg, S.C.
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).
Tickets for the match are $10 for adults and $5 for kids. An all-tournament pass is also available for $30. Students from SoCon schools receive free admission with their school ID. Click
here for tournament ticket information.
The Paladins (17-10, 8-8 SoCon) finished the regular season fifth in the SoCon standings, one game behind Samford. Furman wrapped up its regular season schedule last weekend going 1-1 on the road at UNC Greensboro and The Citadel. The Paladins began the weekend by defeating UNC Greensboro 3-0 before falling in five sets to The Citadel.
In the win over UNC Greensboro, Furman's .344 hitting percentage was its second-highest clip turned in this season behind only .352, which was compiled in a 3-0 win over ETSU on October 19. The Spartans managed to hit just .146 for the match, marking the 14
th time this season the Paladins have kept an opponent under .200 hitting.
Lauren Haynes led all players with a match high 10 kills on .435 hitting while adding six digs.
Grainne McGrath and
Lindsay Walch both hit over .400 and finished with nine kills. Making her first start of the season,
Genevieve Perry contributed nine kills.
Emily Navarro dished out 35 assists to go with seven digs. Defensively,
Kennedy Seekford had a team best nine digs.
Haynes and
Ella Abraham both registered double-doubles to lead Furman at The Citadel. Haynes picked up her seventh double-double of the year, tied for first on the team, with 12 kills and 15 digs. Abraham finished with her sixth double-double on 29 assists and 14 digs. McGrath provided 11 kills and Perry added a season best 10. Seekford led the team with 18 digs.
Samford is the fourth seed for the SoCon Volleyball Championship following a 14-14 regular season record and 9-7 mark in the conference. The Bulldogs are led by eighth-year head coach Keylor Chan.
The Paladins are facing Samford for the 44
th time in program history with the Bulldogs holding a 23-20 lead in the all-time series. The teams are also meeting for the eighth time at the SoCon Volleyball Championship and Samford leads 6-1. Furman swept the regular season series with a 3-2 win in Greenville and 3-1 victory in Birmingham.
The winner of the Furman-Samford matchup will face the winner of No. 1 The Citadel-No. 8 East Tennessee State in the semifinals on Saturday at 5 p.m.
