The Furman Paladins were knocked out of the Southern Conference (SoCon) Tournament by East Tennessee State University Buccaneers on Friday, Nov. 22, at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium in Spartanburg, S.C. The sixth-seeded Dins dropped a 3-2 thriller in the quarterfinal matchup against the third-seeded Bucs.
ETSU dominated the first two sets and won 25-14 and 25-21, respectively. On the other hand, Furman struggled to hit the ball effectively, only having a .088 hitting in the first set. Despite their improved hit accuracy, Furman could not overcome ETSU’s .481 hitting percentage in the second set either.
Down two sets, the Paladins started off the third set strong, scoring ten of the first 14 points. The Buccaneers, however, came back within one late in the set as Furman led 21-20. The Paladins then went on a 4-1 run to win the set with the final point coming off of a block from sophomore middle-blocker Izzy Castelloe.
Furman carried the momentum into the fourth set and triumphed 25-21 yet again. Both sides displayed fierce competition as the set saw five lead changes and eight ties. Furman took a 22-18 lead after an ETSU attack error and held on for the win as freshman middle-blocker Tennyson Gorman clinched the set with a kill. The Paladins totaled 31 digs in the frame during this set, while sophomore libero Kennedy Seekford led the way with nine.
In the fifth set, Furman had to rally from behind yet again. The Buccaneers scored seven of the first nine points of the set before Furman mounted a comeback, cutting the deficit to 12-11. Senior right-side hitter Chandler Parker had a kill to bring Furman back within one, 14-13. However, the Buccaneers responded immediately and secured the 15-13 victory on the ensuing point, ending the Paladins’ season.
Despite the heartbreaking quarterfinal loss, Furman had two players achieve double-doubles as senior outside hitter Ava Augustson had 12 kills and 12 digs while sophomore setter Emily Navarro dished out 25 assists and 12 digs. Gorman led the way with 13 kills while Parker and freshman outside hitter Ashley Stein each contributed 12 kills. Seekford added a team-high 24 digs in the match, and sophomore outside hitter Brooke Scheffler had a new career-high of 21 digs.
Furman ended its season with a 13-14 overall record and 7-9 in the SoCon. Moving forward, the Paladins are losing four seniors and one graduate student. With strong freshman and sophomore classes getting more experience under their belts, the team is poised to return competitively next year.
