STATESBORO, GA. – The Furman volleyball team opened play at the Eagle Invitational on Friday splitting a pair of matches against the Charleston Southern Buccaneers and North Carolina A&T Aggies at Georgia Southern's Hanner Fieldhouse.

The Paladins fell in their opening match to Charleston Southern, 3-2, before ending the day with a 3-1 triumph over North Carolina A&T.

Furman moves its record to 4-3 on the season and concludes play at the Eagle Invitational on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. against tournament host Georgia Southern. 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).

Match 1 – Furman 2, Charleston Southern 3
Skylar Yates led all players with 17 kills to lead Charleston Southern to a 3-2 (14-25, 25-21, 21-25, 25-21, 11-15) victory over Furman in its opening match of the Eagle Invitational.

Yates concluded the match with 17 kills and nine digs while Faith Burch totaled 14 kills and Emily Struckmeyer nine. Ilaria Durante and Tristin Sutton combined for 50 assists. Sutton contributed a double-double after finishing with 11 digs. Julia Fledderjohn led the team with 13 digs.

Grainne McGrath was one of four Paladins to have over 10 kills in the contest after registering a team best 13, one shy of tying her career high. Ashley Stein set a new career high with 12 kills along with Lindsay Walch while Chandler Parker added 11. Emily Navarro posted her third consecutive double-double of 28 assists and 13 digs. Quinn Morrissey had 16 assists and seven digs. Defensively, Kennedy Seekford tallied a match high 16 digs and Ava Augustson compiled 14.

The Buccaneers used an 11-5 run in the opening set to break away from Furman to secure the 25-14 win. McGrath cut the Paladins' deficit down to 14-9 with her kill before Charleston Southern held them to just five points the remainder of the set.

Stein came off the bench in the second set to record six kills on .417 hitting as Furman compiled a .467 percentage. Parker gave the Paladins their largest lead of the set at 15-11 following her kill before Charleston Southern rallied late to cut their lead to 21-20. Furman ended the set scoring four of the last five points. Stein's final kill secured the 25-21 win for the Paladins.

The third set featured a total of eight ties with McGrath, Parker, Stein, and Walch combining for 13 of Furman's 15 kills. With the score tied at 15-15 midway, the Buccaneers used a 7-2 run to go ahead 22-17. The Paladins answered with back-to-back kills from McGrath and Parker to trail 22-19. Charleston Southern ended the set posting three of the last five points for the 25-21 triumph.

Furman limited the Buccaneers to just .103 hitting in the fourth set while finishing at a .290 clip led by Brooke Scheffler's four kills. The Paladins led by as many as six points midway when a pair of solo blocks from Tennyson Gorman put them in front 17-11. Charleston Southern staged a late rally courtesy of a 10-6 run and got to within 23-21 after a Furman attack error. The Paladins scored the last two points, including a kill by Parker, to win 25-21.

The Buccaneers started the fifth set on a 5-2 run until Walch put Furman down a point, 9-8, several plays later with her kill. The Paladins scored just three points the rest of the way with Charleston Southern collecting the 15-11 victory to give them the 3-2 match win.

Furman concluded the contest hitting .211 as a team and registered double digit blocks for the third time this season, finishing with 12. Both teams tallied 63 kills and 57 assists apiece.

Match 2 – North Carolina A&T 1, Furman 3
Parker turned in a career high 18 kills, while Stein added her first career double-double, to lead the Paladins to a 3-1 (22-25, 25-20, 25-15, 25-15) victory over North Carolina A&T to end the first day.

Parker's 18 kills came on .429 hitting and was one of three players that finished with double figure kills. Augustson turned in 12 kills and Stein 10. Stein also finished with a career high 12 digs. McGrath contributed nine kills on .562 hitting. Morrissey achieved a new career high of 32 assists and Navarro provided 15. Seekford led all players with 24 digs.

Hannah Howell paced the Aggies with a double-double of 14 kills and 10 digs. Leonor Polezzi dished out 35 assists while Charlie Meadoweal and Lili Radnai both had 12 digs.

Furman led 21-13 late in the first set until North Carolina A&T staged a late rally. The Aggies closed out the frame on a 12-1 run to clinch the set. After Parker evened the score at 22-22 with her kill, North Carolina A&T scored the last three points to win 25-22.

Augustson and Parker each had six kills during the second set to help the Paladins compile a .326 hitting percentage. Furman took its largest lead of the set at 14-8 on Hayley Dionis' service ace and Stein would later make it 18-13 after her kill. The Aggies came back again with a 7-2 run and tied the score at 20-20. The Paladins ended the set scoring five straight points for the 25-20 victory. Augustson and Parker teamed up for the last three Furman kills.

The Paladins held North Carolina A&T to only .029 hitting in the third set. The Aggies held an early 8-4 lead before Furman used a 13-4 run to propel to a 17-12 advantage on Parker's solo block. North Carolina A&T would get as close as 17-13 but would be held to just two more points the rest of the set. The Paladins ended the frame with three consecutive points, all on Aggie errors, to win 25-15.

North Carolina A&T did not accumulate a hitting percentage in the fourth set, recording eight kills and eight attack errors. Four different players had three kills apiece to lead the Paladins, who hit .278 in the frame. Furman opened on an 11-4 run and led by seven points following a solo block from Gorman. An attack error would give the Paladins their largest lead at 21-11 before Campbell Woods captured the set at 25-15 with a kill.

Furman hit over .300 for the second time this season, finishing at .317 overall. The Paladins also totaled 11 blocks and held a 59-45 advantage in kills, 57-43 in assists, and 64-59 in digs.