SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Behind double-digit kills from Andrea Fisher and Ashton Gregory, Furman volleyball swept Wofford, 3-0 (25-23, 25-16, 25-23) on Wednesday night in the Benjamin Johnson Arena on the campus of Wofford College. With the win, the Paladins move to 10-4 on the year and 3-0 in the SoCon, while the Terriers fall to 8-10 and 1-1 in the SoCon.
Andrea Fisher paced the Paladins with 15 kills and a season-high .448 hitting percentage, along with five blocks and five digs.. Ashton Gregory tallied 11 kills and a .316 hitting percentage, with nine blocks. Taina Joseph turned in five kills on nine attempts with no errors for a .556 hitting percentage, while Meg DeMaar, Payton Frappier and Jo Wilks each added seven digs for the Paladins. Wilks dished out 36 assists and added three blocks.
The teams traded points in set one, until Furman opened up a two-point advantage at 13-11. The Terriers battled back to tie the set at 13, take a 14-13 lead, then stretch the lead to 17-14, forcing Furman's first timeout of the set. Out of the timeout, the Paladins used three-straight points to tie the match at 17, before Wofford again opened up a two-point advantage at 20-18. Furman again rallied to tie the match at 20, before taking set one, 25-23. Furman out-hit Wofford .378 to .302 in set one.
Furman jumped out to an early 7-3 lead in set two, behind Ashton Gregory's two kills and a block, forcing Wofford to take a timeout. The teams then traded points until Wofford cut the lead to two at 12-10, but a service error pushed Furman's lead back to three at 13-10. The Paladins then used a 5-2 run to push their lead to six at 18-12, before Wofford cut the lead to four at 18-14. The teams traded points until a Caitlyn Scioscia ace pushed Furman's lead to 21-15, forcing Wofford to take its second timeout of the set. The Paladins then closed out the set on a 4-1 run, taking set two, 25-16, for a 2-0 lead in the match. Furman held Wofford to a .030 hitting percentage in set two.
The teams traded points in set three, until Wofford opened up a two-point advantage at 9-7. The Paladins cut the lead to one at 9-8, then used two-straight blocks to take a 10-9 lead. Wofford tied the match at 10, but then two-straight Ashton Gregory blocks pushed the Furman lead to 12-10, forcing a Wofford timeout. Furman stretched the lead to four a 14-10, until Wofford used three-straight points, including senior Taylor Baird's 1,000th career kills, to cut the lead to one at 14-13. The teams again traded point until Furman used a Taina Joseph/Amelia Bohlander block to stretch the lead back to four at 19-15. The teams continued to trade points until an attack error gave Furman a 22-18 lead and forced Wofford to use its second timeout of the set. Three-straight points out of the timeout cut Furman's lead to one at 22-21, forcing a Furman timeout. The Terriers tied the match at 22, before Furman pushed the lead to two at 24-22. Wofford again cut the lead to one at 24-23, but Furman put the set away with an Andrea Fisher kill to win set three, 25-23, and the match, 3-0.
Furman is back in action on Saturday, as they host UNCG at 2:00 pm in Alley Gym.