The women’s volleyball team opened the Southern Conference season Friday, Sept. 21 with a 3-0 win against Davidson. Davidson entered the tournament with a 4-6 season record after a loss to Green Bay the previous Saturday.
The Paladins’ victory against Davidson marked their amazing 19 consecutive home game wins. The Paladins and Davidson played an exciting match, with the beginning of the second set opening with six ties between the two teams.
A service ace by Elle Ross and an attack error by the Wildcats ended the series of ties with a two-point lead for Furman. Furman took the victory in that set, 25-18. Ross ended the match with a team-high of 20 digs.
Senior Chandler Ambrester recorded 11 kills and nine digs while junior Christina Dorismond hit .350 with 10 kills. Senior Natalie Braun recorded yet another double-double with 17 kills and 11 digs. Braun ended the match hitting .548 with no errors.
Despite their determined efforts in the second match of the Southern Conference, the Paladins’ impressive streak of 19 home victories came to an end at the hands of Georgia Southern.
The Eagles of Georgia Southern were also the last team to defeat the Paladins since their home game streak began in September 2010. The Paladins never gave up against the Eagles.
Ambrester had nine kills and nine digs, recording a team high, while Ross had 13 digs for the Paladin defense. Jo Wilks, the two-time recipient of the Freshman of the Week award in the last Southern Conference, supported her teammates with 27 assists.
The NCAA statistical rankings released Sept. 17 recognized the Paladins for their outstanding achievements this season. Furman ranked seventh in the nation for assists per set and eighteenth for kills per set with records of 13.77 and 14.51 respectively.
A hitting percentage of .279 earned the team the nation’s twenty-first best ranking. Several Paladins were also recognized for their individual achievements. Sophomore Christina Dorismond, a Southern Conference Student-Athlete of the Week for the first week of September, ranked sixty-fourth with a .365 attack percentage. Braun earned two national rankings. Braun was sixty-fourth for aces per set with .41 and fifty-fifth for her 3.96 kills per set. Ambrester earned the forty-fourth ranking for kills per set with 4.05 while senior Caroline Adams received the thirty-seventh ranking for her .391 kills per set. Wilks snatched an astounding fourth place national ranking for her 12.34 assists per set.
The Paladin women have a lot to be proud of once again. The team will travel to Wake Forest University Tuesday, Sept. 25 for their next match against the Lady Deacons at 6:30 p.m.
