GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Furman volleyball team closed out its home schedule Saturday evening with a 3-2 (27-25, 25-20, 21-25, 22-25, 15-9) victory over league-leading East Tennessee State in Southern Conference action from Alley Gymnasium.
Furman, who finishes the season with 10 home victories, improves to 19-7 overall and 10-4 in the SoCon. The Paladins handed East Tennessee State its first conference loss of the season as the Buccaneers dropped to 19-6 on the year and 13-1 in league play.
Furman held its Senior Night ceremony on Saturday and honored
Lauren Haynes,
Grainne McGrath,
Eva Wheeler, and student manager Liz Moody prior to first serve.
Lindsay Walch paced the Paladin offense with 15 kills on .312 hitting, while
Ashley Stein turned in her second straight double-double, and fifth this season, on 12 kills and 11 digs.
Izzy Castelloe contributed 11 kills.
Emily Navarro totaled 24 assists and nine digs, and Wheeler added 22 assists.
Kennedy Seekford led the team with 16 digs and
Ashtan Dodson provided 14.
Makayla Bays led ETSU with a match high 23 kills and Alex Kreutzmann dished out 27 assists. Melanie Morris registered 16 digs.
The opening set went into extra points with Furman holding on for the 27-25 win. The Paladins compiled a .345 hitting percentage and held the Buccaneers to .071. Walch recorded five kills, Navarro six assists, and
Hayley Dionis four digs. Furman opened on an 8-3 run, capped by Walch's kill, before East Tennessee State evened the score midway at 12-12. Walch would give the Paladins a 21-19 advantage and ETSU came back to hold a 23-22 lead. Furman would be at set point when the teams traded three straight points. Furman secured the frame with Stein's kill and a Buccaneer attack error.
The Paladins extended their lead to 2-0 following a 25-20 triumph in the second set. Furman, who hit .361, was led by Dodson's four kills on .800 hitting. Wheeler had seven assists and Stein three digs. The Paladins led for most of the set but trailed 18-17 late after an ETSU kill. Furman picked up the next two points to lead 19-18. The Paladins outscored ETSU 6-2 the rest of the way with
Tennyson Gorman's service ace giving them the five-point victory.
East Tennessee State would tie the match at 2-2 when it won 25-21 in the third set and 25-22 in the fourth. Furman tallied a .310 hitting mark in the third with McGrath and Walch both finishing with three kills, Navarro and Wheeler five assists, and Dodson five digs. In the fourth, the Paladins were limited to .125 hitting with Walch collecting three kills, Navarro five assists, and Seekford nine digs.
Furman would turn in a .533 hitting performance in the fifth set and clinched the match with a 15-9 victory. Stein had a team high four kills and Navarro finished with four assists and three digs. The Paladins compiled six of the first nine points and held a 6-3 lead after an ETSU attack error. The Buccaneers got to within 8-7 when Furman broke things open courtesy of a 5-0 run and went in front 13-7 on Stein's kill. The Paladins earned the win off an East Tennessee State service error.
Furman concluded the match hitting .293 as a team and recorded a season high 15 blocks. The Paladins last posted 15 or more blocks in a match back on September 23, 2023, when they totaled 17 in a 3-2 win over Samford at Alley Gymnasium. Gorman finished with a career high 11 blocks (six solo, five assisted) and McGrath added four.
Furman wraps up the regular season next weekend, November 14-15, traveling to Western Carolina and Chattanooga.
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