Furman 3, College of Charleston 1

CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Furman Paladins battled their way to a 3-1 (25-22, 25-19, 24-26, 25-20) win over College of Charleston in SoCon volleyball action on Sunday afternoon at TD Arena.

Furman (15-5, 4-2) used a late run in the first set and overpowering defense in the second set to build a 2-0 set lead at the break. College of Charleston (13-6, 5-1) fought hard in the third set to pull out a close win, but the Paladins reloaded for the fourth set and took advantage of a late 6-0 run to turn an 18-14 deficit into a 20-18 lead. The Cougars could not recover and lost the final set, 25-20.

Furman’s win snapped the Cougars’ 21-match home SoCon winning streak which dated back to October 4, 2009 when Furman also won a 3-1 decision at TD Arena.

The Paladins used a balanced attack with four players reaching double figures in kills and three tallying double-doubles. Furman hit .304 for the match and held the Cougars to just .186 as CofC committed 25 attacking errors.

Darcy Dorton led the way for CofC with 19 kills on 57 attempts with nine errors. She also made eight digs. Sloane White managed 10 kills but also made seven hitting errors. Lizzie Theesfeld came off the bench to make nine kills with a team-best .562 attack percentage. She also landed two aces. Emily Shelton made 23 digs, while Andi Zbojniewicz registered eight.

Furman’s Caroline Adams and Chandler Ambrester each made 15 kills as the two hit .483 and .389, respectively. Natalie Braun tallied 14 kills and 11 digs with three solo blocks. Freshman Jo Wilks notched 50 assists.

The first set was a game of runs as each squad sided out under 40 percent. CofC opened a 4-0 lead only to see Furman score eight straight. After the teams were tied at 17, the Paladins reeled off seven points in a row from the serve of Ambrester to create set point at 24-17. The Cougars did not fold as CofC made a 5-0 run of its own to pull to within 24-22. A kill from Adams ended the set in Furman’s favor, 25-22.

The Paladins led the entire second set after an initial 1-1 tie. The Cougars hit just .077 with 10 errors, while Furman made five blocks and sided out at a strong 60 percent clip. Furman led by as many as nine points at 23-14 and eventually won the set, 25-19.

College of Charleston came out of the break with renewed vigor and fire, as the set featured 18 ties and eight lead changes. Kills by Taeler Davis and White put CofC up 21-19, but Braun and Adams killed two consecutive balls to tie the set again at 21. College of Charleston had set point at 24-23, but another Braun kill tied the game again. Dorton helped CofC side out with a go-ahead kill and then White made an ace to give CofC the third set, 26-24.

It looked as if CofC might be able to force a fifth set after the Cougars took an 18-14 late in the fourth frame. But kills from Ambrester and Adams sparked a 6-0 Furman run to go ahead 20-18. CofC never tied the set again as a Christina Curry kill gave the Paladins a 25-20 set win, and 3-1 match victory.