GREENVILLE, S.C. - Sophomore Lauren Haynes notched 15 kills and 17 digs to lead Furman to a 3-2 (21-25, 25-27, 25-18, 25-20, 15-5) come from behind victory over Samford Saturday afternoon at Alley Gymnasium in Greenville, S.C.

With the win, which marked the Paladins' first win over the Bulldogs since Nov. 10, 2017, Furman improves to 12-3 overall and 3-1 in Southern Conference play.  Samford falls to 6-10 overall and 1-3 in league play.  

Haynes, who posted her third double-double of the season, led Furman in kills, while freshman Kennedy Seekford matched Haynes' 17 digs.  Senior Ella Abraham paced Furman with 40 assists, and Haynes and sophomore Grainne McGrath each tallied six blocks in the victory.  McGrath added 14 kills, followed by freshman Lindsay Walch, who posted 12 kills.  Freshman Izzy Castelloe hit .476 to lead the Paladins, scoring 10 kills.  

Junior Gracie Lynn Butler paced Samford with 25 kills, while junior Kate Morgan recorded 23 digs.  Freshman setter Lexi Thatcher led the Bulldogs with 55 assists.  

The teams traded points to open the first set.  The Bulldogs began to pull away and led, 14-10, before Furman cut the deficit to 16-15 on a service ace by Mary Beth Headley.  The Paladins eventually tied the match at 17-all before Samford reeled off three-straight points to take a 20-17 advantage.  Furman answered with kills from Walch, who led the Paladins with a .750 attack percentage in the first set, and Haynes, but Furman could come no closer than 21-19, as Samford won four of the next six points to claim the set, 25-21. 

In set two, the teams were tied at 9-apiece before Furman scored two in a row off a kill from Headley coupled with a Samford attack error.  The Paladins stretched the lead to 13-10 off an additional Bulldog error, then a kill by Walch pushed the Furman advantage to 14-10 coming out of a timeout.  The Paladins maintained the four-point lead at 20-16 then scored three-straight points, including kills from McGrath and Walch, to take their largest lead of the set, 23-17.  Samford answered with three-consecutive points to crawl back into the match at 23-20, but a kill by Haynes gave Furman match point at 24-20.  The Bulldogs took the next four points, which included consecutive kills from Butler, to tie the match at 24-all.  After trading points to settle at 25-apiece, Samford scored the final two points off a Paladin attack error and a final kill from Kaleigh Meritt, to capture the 27-25 set victory. 

After leading set three 5-4, Furman put together a 6-2 run to gain control of the set, 11-6.  Samford crawled back to cut the lead two just two points at 15-13, before kills from Ava Augustson and McGrath gave the Paladins a four-point advantage of 17-13.  The Bulldogs put together a 4-1 run of their own to come within one at 18-17, but Furman capitalized off kills from Augustson and Abraham, and a service ace by Augustson to force a Samford timeout at 21-17.  The Paladins scored two points coming out of the timeout with a kill  from Walch and a Bulldog attack error to stretch the lead to 23-17.  After a Samford kill from Sophia Palsman, Furman took the final two points to win the set, 25-18.  

Furman broke open a 13-13 tie with an 8-3 run to gain control of the fourth set, 21-16.  Samford scored two to cut it to 21-18, but a kill by McGrath stretched the Paladin lead to four points.  After a Bulldog kill, the teams traded attack errors to settle at 23-20.  A final kill from Walch, followed by a Samford error, gave Furman a 25-20 set win and tied the match at two sets apiece. 

In the decisive fifth set, the Paladins jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead to force a Bulldog timeout.  Samford got on the board and came within two points at 5-3, but Furman took control of the set and rolled to a 15-5 victory.  The Paladins hit .357 with seven kills in the final set, including four from Haynes. 

The Paladins will travel to Chattanooga on Friday for a 6 p.m. contest.