SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Furman volleyball team was eliminated from the SoCon Volleyball Championship on Friday evening as the sixth-seeded Paladins fell 3-2 (14-25, 21-25, 25-21, 25-21, 13-15) to No. 3 seed East Tennessee State in the quarterfinals from Wofford's Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium.
Furman's season ends with a 13-14 overall record. With the win, East Tennessee State improves to 19-10 on the year and will face No. 2 seed Wofford in the semifinals at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
The Paladins had four players reach double figure kills on Friday led by
Tennyson Gorman's 13 on .520 hitting.
Ava Augustson,
Chandler Parker, and
Ashley Stein all recorded 12 kills. Augustson (12 digs) and
Emily Navarro (25 assists, 12 digs) both tallied double-doubles.
Quinn Morrissey also dished out 25 assists.
Kennedy Seekford led the team with 24 digs while Brooke Scheffer contributed a career high 21.
Amanda Lowe's 15 kills led all players for the Buccaneers while Reese Rhodes had a double-double of 46 assists and 22 digs. Melanie Morris finished with a match high 26 digs.
East Tennessee State jumped out to a 2-0 lead over Furman after taking the opening two sets by scores of 25-14 and 25-21. The Paladins were limited to just .088 hitting in the first set with Stein pouring in four kills, Morrissey and Navarro four assists each, and Seekford six digs. In the second set, Furman responded with a .393 hitting percentage but saw ETSU counter with a .481 clip. Parker had a team best four kills while Morrissey added seven assists and Navarro three digs.
The Paladins got on the board with a 25-21 triumph in the third set, cutting their deficit to 2-1. Augustson collected six kills, Navarro eight assists, and Seekford seven digs. Furman scored 10 of the initial 14 points and took a six-point lead on Gorman's service ace. The Buccaneers rallied back to within a point at 21-20 only to see the Paladins end on a 4-1 run.
Izzy Castelloe clinched the set with her solo block.
Furman added another 25-21 victory in the fourth set, sending the match to a fifth, and deciding, frame. Gorman led the team with five kills on .833 hitting while Morrissey and Navarro both dished out six assists. The Paladins totaled 31 digs in the frame led by Seekford's nine. The set featured eight ties and five lead changes with ETSU holding an early 12-10 advantage. Furman took a 15-13 lead at the media timeout and came out of the break outscoring East Tennessee State, 7-5, to push its lead to 22-18 off a Buccaneer attack error. Gorman's kill secured the set for the Paladins.
The fifth set was a thriller with ETSU scoring seven of the first nine points before Furman rallied back and trailed 12-11 on another Buccaneer attack error. Parker's kill put the score at 14-13 before East Tennessee State clinched the match with the following point. The Paladins were led by Parker's two kills, Morrissey's three assists, and Scheffler's six digs.
Furman concluded the match hitting .207 as a team and held a 13.0-7.0 advantage in blocks. The Paladins finished with a season high block total and posted double digit blocks in a match for the ninth time.
