GREENVILLE, S.C. – Kacie Moore notched her first career double-double Saturday evening and was one of three Paladins to have 10 or more kills as the Furman volleyball team registered a 3-1 (20-25, 25-20, 25-22, 25-22) Southern Conference victory over the UNC Greensboro Spartans at Timmons Arena.
Furman, who snapped UNCG's eight-match winning streak, moves its record to 12-13 overall and 6-8 in the SoCon. The Spartans fall to 17-8 on the season and 10-4 in league play.
Moore, a sophomore from Charlotte, N.C., hit .375 for the contest and finished with 11 kills and a career high 10 blocks.
Izzy Castelloe led Furman offensively with 16 kills on .270 hitting while
Lauren Haynes contributed 10 kills.
Tennyson Gorman posted nine kills and six blocks.
Morgan Baldridge dished out 25 assists and
Emily Navarro turned in 24 assists and seven digs. Defensively,
Kennedy Seekford led all players with 24 digs and
Ashley Stein added 11.
Allie Sweet and Izora Gragg both recorded double-doubles to lead UNC Greensboro. Sweet totaled 21 kills and 10 digs while Gragg compiled 36 assists and 10 digs. Hailey Clifton tallied 10 kills and Mia Nicklas 16 digs.
The Spartans jumped out to the early one-set lead after capturing the first, 25-20. The Paladins were held to just .054 hitting as Castelloe and
Amber Watson both had three kills, Baldridge five assists, and Seekford four digs.
Furman bounced back to capture the next three sets by scores of 25-20, 25-22, and 25-22 to secure the 3-1 victory.
The second set saw the Paladins post a .275 hitting percentage in their 25-20 triumph led by five kills from Castelloe, 10 assists by Baldridge, and 12 digs from Seekford. Furman scored five of the first seven points and built a 15-9 lead at the media timeout following Castelloe's kill.
Campbell Woods gave the Paladins their largest lead of the frame at 21-12 with her kill. UNC Greensboro rallied late with an 8-3 run, but Castelloe's kill clinched the set.
Furman came back for a 25-22 victory in the third set after collecting a .206 hitting mark. Haynes finished with five kills, Baldridge seven assists, and Navarro and Seekford four digs apiece. UNCG led by as many as five points, 13-8, following a Paladin timeout. Furman fought back courtesy of a 10-4 run and took an 18-17 lead when Woods connected on another kill. Following a UNC Greensboro timeout, the Paladins scored six of the next 10 points and secured the set on Castelloe's kill.
The fourth, and final, set featured 13 ties and five lead changes as Furman held on for the 25-22 win to capture the match. Castelloe led the Paladins again with four kills, Navarro seven assists, and Seekford four digs. The Paladin defense also limited UNCG to just .054 hitting. The Spartans led for most of the set and held a 21-20 advantage late after a Furman attack error. The Paladins closed out the match on a 5-1 run. Moore and Woods started the run with back-to-back combination blocks and Stein ended things after her kill.
Furman concluded the match hitting .170 as a team and held the Spartans to a .106 clip. The Paladins held a 58-46 advantage in kills, 57-42 in assists, and 67-62 in digs. Furman's season best 17 blocks are the most since also having 17 in a five-set win over Samford on September 30, 2023.
The Paladins head to Spartanburg next weekend, November 6-7, to face Wofford in a two-match SoCon series.
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