Asheville, N.C. – Lindsay Walch recorded a career high 12 kills on Friday evening to lead the Furman volleyball team to its second consecutive sweep of the UNC Asheville Bulldogs following a 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-19) win at the Justice Center.
Furman improves to 3-1 on the season while UNC Asheville drops to 3-3 overall.
Walch, a freshman from Palm City, Fla., turned in the top performance of her career leading the Paladins, who hit .245 as a team, offensively with 12 kills on .500 hitting.
Mary Beth Headley contributed seven kills, on .353 hitting, and a team best nine digs, while
Ava Augustson provided six kills and seven digs.
Ella Abraham dished out 30 assists to go with seven digs. Defensively,
Izzy Castelloe totaled five blocks (one solo, four assisted) and
Kennedy Seekford added eight digs.
Kylie Cackovic paced the Bulldog offense after finishing with a match high 13 kills. Albertine van der Goot had 11 assists and Ona Elkins 10 digs.
Furman limited UNC Asheville to just .069 hitting in the first set while posting a .324 percentage, registering 14 kills on three errors. Six different Paladins had a kill in the opening set and used an 11-6 run midway to break their lead open to 20-14 after seeing the score tied at 9-9 early. Walch's fourth kill of the contest gave Furman the 25-17 win.
The Paladins posted another 12 kills during the second set led by four apiece from Walch and Headley. Furman, again, benefitted from another late run to extend its lead and capture the frame. The Bulldogs scored three of the first four points and led 10-9 after a Paladin attack error. Furman responded by outscoring UNC Asheville 15-6 to sit at set point leading 24-16 after a solo block from
Lauren Haynes. Haynes won the set with her kill.
Walch added another four kills in set three while the Bulldogs were held to only .029 hitting. Trailing 10-9 early in the set, the Paladins used another long run to pick up the victory. Furman would go on an 11-5 run, capped by Augustson's kill, to go ahead 20-15, leading to a UNC Asheville timeout. The Paladins then scored four of the next five points to sit at match point leading 24-16 off another solo block from Haynes. Haynes secured the match for Furman a few points later after recording her fourth kill of the contest.
The Paladins concluded the match holding a 38-31 advantage in kills and assists, and 46-43 in digs. For the second consecutive match, the Bulldogs were held to under .100 hitting as a team after finishing at .074. Furman also tallied nine total blocks led by Castelloe's five.
The Paladins are back at Alley Gymnasium on Tuesday, September 5 to host USC Upstate 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.
