STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Volleyball team (8-8, 1-0) opened Southern Conference play with a 3-1 match win over Wofford Thursday night in the Old Hanner Fieldhouse Gym. Powered by 11 kills from Meredith Paskert and 10 kills from Bethany Sanford the Eagles rallied from a first-set loss.

GSU was aided by 14 service errors and held the Terriers to just two service aces. Hannah Nelson added nine kills to the winning effort and led the team with three service aces. Nelson was second on the team with a .398 hitting percentage.

GSU bounced back from an opening set loss to Wofford. The Terriers were held to just a .176 hitting percentage in the first set but pulled off a 25-22 set win. The Eagles rebounded from a .114 first-set hitting percentage and posted stellar marks of .385 and .412 in the second and third sets to win 25-19, 25-15 respectively. Georgia Southern hit just .098 in the fourth set but won 25-19 due in part to a match-low .089 hitting percentage by the Terriers.

Kate Van Dyke recorded 39 of the team's 46 assists to help run the Eagles offense. Van Dyke also tallied six kills and eight digs while posting a .417 hitting percentage.

Amanda Liguori led Wofford with 13 kills but was held to a .186 hitting percentage on 43 attempts. Arden Anderson and Rachel Woodlee both recorded 11 kills for the Terriers, while Reagan Styles tallied 23 digs.

Lauren LaRocque led Georgia Southern's defensive efforts with 17 digs and was one of three players to post double-digit digs. Sanford was second on the team with 11 digs while Hayli Ketner recorded 10.

Furman 3, Davidson 1

DAVIDSON, N.C. -The Furman Paladins defeated the Davidson Wildcats, 3-1 (19-25, 25-19, 14-25, 20-25), as both teams opened Southern Conference play Thursday night at Belk Arena.

Furman (8-4, 1-0 SoCon) put a pair of players in double figures in kills in Caroline Adams (12) and Chandler Ambrester (10). Kelly Kirby finished with 30 assists and 17 digs, and Sarah McCarthy added 18 assists. Natalie Braun and Carolyn Nicoletti also finished with double digits in digs with 17 and 13, respectively.

Davidson (10-4, 0-1 SoCon) was led by sophomore middle hitters Tindall Sewell, who finished with nine kills and hit .471 in the match, and Taylor Pisel, who also tallied nine kills. Junior setter Ariel Ley finished with 39 assists and 12 digs, and junior libero Molly Crenshaw led the defense with a match-high 26 digs.

Furman jumped out to a 6-2 lead to start the match, but Davidson clawed back within one, 6-5, on kills by senior outside hitter Christine Perzinski and Crenshaw. The set stayed close until the Paladins put together a 4-0 to open up a 16-10 lead on kills by Christina Dorismond, Ambrester and Adams. A kill by Brown as part of a 3-0 swing put the Wildcats within three, 19-16, and forced Furman into a timeout, but the Paladins would ultimately take the first set, 25-19.

The Paladins took the early lead again in the second set, getting off to a quick 4-2 start, but Davidson used a 8-2 run to go ahead, 10-6, and never trailed again in the set. The Wildcats pushed their lead to 17-10 on back-to-back kills by Pisel and stayed in control throughout the frame. Furman challenged with a 3-0 run late in the game to cut Davidson's lead to 21-18, but the Wildcats regrouped after a timeout and went 4-1 to close out the 25-19 win and even the match.

The Paladins continued their trend of taking an early lead, starting the third set with a 5-2 advantage, but this time held onto it en route to a 25-14 win. The Wildcats cut the lead to a point, 6-5, with a kill from Sewell, but Furman responded with three straight scores and led by as many as 20-9 in the set. But the Wildcats bounced back in the fourth and final set, using a 5-1 run to cut Furman's lead to 21-18 and force the Paladins into a timeout. The 'Cats survived one match point on a kill by Sewell, but Ambrester put away the winner as Furman took the match with a 25-20 victory.