GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Furman volleyball team begins postseason play Friday afternoon when the second-seeded Paladins face the No. 7 seed Mercer Bears in the quarterfinals of the SoCon Volleyball Championship at 4:30 p.m. from Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville, N.C.

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).

Tickets are on sale now. Daily general admission and New Belgium Courtside Lounge passes are available for $15 and $35, respectively. Tickets for students from SoCon institutions are $10. The New Belgium Courtside Lounge packages include access to courtside seating, two drink tickets and light complimentary snacks.

The Paladins (20-8, 11-5 SoCon) finished the regular season second in the SoCon standings behind regular season champion East Tennessee State. Furman wrapped up its regular season last weekend going 1-1 on the road versus Western Carolina and Chattanooga. The Paladins began the weekend by defeating Western Carolina, 3-2, before falling in four sets to Chattanooga.

In the victory at Western Carolina, Furman reached its first 20-win season since 2017 after having three players finish with double-doubles in Ashley Stein, Brooke Scheffler, and Emily Navarro. Stein led the Paladins with 16 kills and 15 digs, while Scheffler contributed 10 kills and a career high 23 digs. Navarro turned in a season best 33 assists and 14 digs. Izzy Castelloe poured in 10 kills and Kennedy Seekford 21 digs.

Furman concluded the match hitting .215 as a team and had 11 blocks highlighted by Tennyson Gorman's eight.

Castelloe paced the Paladins in the loss to Chattanooga with 12 kills on .357 hitting while Lindsay Walch added 10. Navarro and Eva Wheeler both contributed double-doubles. Wheeler posted 21 assists and 11 digs while Navarro collected 17 assists and 13 digs. Seekford was one of five players who had 10 or more digs with a match high 17.

Furman wrapped up the contest with a .153 hitting percentage.

Mercer is the seventh seed for the SoCon Volleyball Championship following an 10-19 regular season and went 6-10 in the conference.

The Paladins and Bears are meeting for the 40^th time in program history with Furman holding a 23-16 advantage in the all-time series. The teams split the regular season series with the Paladins earning a 3-1 victory in Greenville and Mercer a four-set win in Macon.

The winner of the Furman-Mercer matchup will face the winner of No. 3 Wofford-No. 6 Samford in the semifinals on Saturday at 7 p.m.

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