The Furman Paladins hit .225 to take the 3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-16) win over the Presbyterian College volleyball team in action this evening at Ally Gym in Greenville, S.C.
The Blue Hose (1-11) were led by Rachel Hall and Andrea Barman with nine kills apiece, with Mary Trimpe pacing the team defensively with 18 digs. Ashtin Frank led the team in assists with 30. As a team PC totaled 32 kills and 26 errors for a .053 hitting percentage.
Leading Furman (4-7) was Andrea Fisher with nine kills. Jo Wilks posted 33 assists, while Elle Ross added 17 digs. The Paladins recorded 39 kills and 14 errors for a .225 hitting percentage.
Leading 8-7 in game one, the Paladins capitalized on six PC errors to go on a 9-0 run increase their margin to 10, 17-7. A block by Hall and Kelly Berryman stopped the run and started a 5-1 run, highlighted by four Paladin errors and a service ace by Tripp, as PC cut the Furman lead to five , 18-13.
Furman won the next five of six points to build its lead back up by nine, 23-14. Barman's kill made it 23-15, but a Paladin kill and a PC error gave Furman the 25-15 game one win.
PC opened game two with two Barman kills to string together a 4-1 run, and extending it to 9-5 before Furman scored three unanswered to cut the margin to 9-8. PC responded with kills from Berryman, Hall and Lena Gavin brought PC up by four again, 12-8.
Gregory used two kills, while Fisher added another one to lead Furman to a 13-13 tie. Barman recorded a kill and service ace to give PC a 16-14 lead before a Furman error extended the lead to 17-14.
Furman rallied with three straight to tie the game at 17-17 before taking the lead, 19-18 off a Annie Bierman kill. A kill by Hall and Berryman helped PC retake the lead at 21-20 before Ashton Gregory's successful attack knotted the game at 21-21.
Knotted again at 22-22, Furman took the 24-22 lead off a kill and block to set up game point. A PC attack error the next point gave the Paladins the 25-22 game two win.
The first part of game three saw seven ties before the 16 points in. Tied 8-8, Furman scored three straight to take an 11-8 lead, before a service error gave PC a point and the serve at 9-11.
Furman scored two of the next three points to take a 13-10 lead before Frank tallied her first kill of the night to cut the margin to two, 11-13. The Paladins scored the next eight unanswered to open up a 10-point, 21-11, lead.
Two Furman errors ended the Paladin rally and cut the margin to eight, 21-13, before a Fisher kill took the margin back to nine, 22-13. Berryman helped PC cut the lead to eight, 23-15, but a PC attack error gave the Paladins game and match point. Hall laced her ninth kill of the night to make it 24-16 but Fisher ended the game with her ninth kill to give Furman the 25-16 win.
The Blue Hose play in their final regular-season tournament this weekend as they travel to Columbia, S.C., to take part in the Carolina Classic Presented by Courtyard Marriott, Sept. 20-21. PC faces Robert Morris Friday at 4:30 p.m., before taking on Western Carolina at 10 a.m., Saturday. Later that day, the team takes on host South Carolina at 7 p.m.
