Spartanburg, S.C. – The Furman volleyball team was eliminated from the SoCon Volleyball Championship on Friday afternoon as the fifth-seeded Paladins fell 3-2 (29-27, 23-25, 25-21, 19-25, 12-15) to No. 4 seed Samford in the quarterfinals from Wofford's Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium.
Furman's season ends with a 17-11 overall record. With the win, Samford improves to 15-14 on the year and will play the winner of No. 8 ETSU-No. 1 The Citadel in the semifinals at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
The Paladins had five players total double digit kills with
Lauren Haynes and SoCon All-Freshman Team selection
Emily Navarro recording double-doubles. Second team All-SoCon pick
Mary Beth Headley paced Furman offensively with 19 kills on .255 hitting. Haynes registered her team best eighth double-double on 15 kills and 14 digs, and Navarro contributed her fifth double-double with 50 assists, a career high, and 12 digs. SoCon All-Freshman Team honoree
Lindsay Walch poured in 13 kills, while
Izzy Castelloe, a SoCon All-Freshman Team selection, and
Grainne McGrath both had 10. Defensively,
Kennedy Seekford posted a career best 38 digs and
Ava Augustson tallied 15.
Seekford's 38 digs on Friday gave the freshman a total of 502 for the season, which ranks fifth-most for a season in school history. She is also only the fourth player in program history, joining Meg DeMaar, Elle Ross, and Janine Turner to have 500-plus digs in a season.
Gracie Lynn Butler and Kaleigh Meritt, both first team All-SoCon recipients, finished with double-doubles to lead the Bulldogs. Butler led all players with a match high 21 kills and added 27 digs, and Meritt compiled 14 kills and 15 digs. Kate Wonus and Ally Cordes each finished with 12 kills. Kayla Keshock and Lexi Thatcher combined for 56 assists. Kate Morgan compiled a team best 30 digs.
Furman hit .228 in the opening set with Headley (5), Haynes (5), and Castelloe (4) combining for 14 of its 19 kills. Samford held a 23-19 lead late in the frame before the Paladins answered with five straight points to sit at set point, 24-23, after Castelloe connected on back-to-back kills. The teams then traded the next seven points with the score even at 27-27. Headley followed with a kill and Furman captured the set, 29-27, off a Bulldog attack error.
Samford responded by capturing the second set, 25-23, after finishing with five of the last eight points. The Paladins posted a .240 hitting mark in the frame with five different players recording at least three kills.
Furman would then limit the Bulldogs to just .077 hitting in the third set, claiming a 25-21 victory and taking a 2-1 lead in the match. Headley, who had seven kills in the set, collected the final two to give the Paladins the four-point win. Samford tied the score at 21-21 late after the initial ruling of a Bulldog attack error was reversed following a challenge. Furman would then record the final four points with Headley taking part in three of them.
Samford sent the match into a fifth set with a 25-19 triumph in the fourth. Walch led the Paladins, who hit .263 for the set, with five kills on .444 hitting.
The Bulldogs registered the first seven points of the fifth set and held an early 12-4 lead. Furman staged a late rally with a 5-1 run and trailed 13-9 off Castelloe's kill. With Samford sitting a set point leading 14-10, the Paladins cut its deficit to two when Headley and Haynes recorded two straight kills. The Bulldogs won the set, and match, the following point.
Furman concluded the contest hitting .206 as a team and finished with 101 digs, its first time posting triple digits since totaling 104 at Chattanooga on November 15, 2021. For the ninth time this season, the Paladins had 10 or more blocks in a match after finishing with 13.
