Nov. 9, 2007

Box Score

GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Furman volleyball team reached its 20th win of the season with a 3-0 victory over The Citadel on Friday night. This is the first time since 2002 that the Furman Paladins have reached 20 wins in a season.

In game one, the Paladins took a commanding 10-2 lead and were able to keep the Bulldogs under 10 points as Furman took the first game 30-9.

Games two and three were much the same, with Furman winning 30-14 and 30-13, respectively.

The Paladins were able to hold the Bulldogs to a negative hitting percentage while recording a .386 mark themselves. Junior Rachel Sanders led the Bulldogs with 6 kills, while Ashley Winter led the defense with 5 digs.

Furman's offense was evenly distributed, with juniors Alison West and Nicole Palazzo contributing 9 kills each, while senior Chibuzo Aguocha and sophomore Emily Harby each added 7. Senior Kerry Wooten recorded 6 kills and senior setter Courtney Stewardson notched 5 kills and no errors to lead the team with a .714 hitting percentage.

West led the defense with 13 digs and libero Brooke Ellison added 12. Middle blocker Wooten led the net defense with 4 total blocks.

With the win, the Paladins improve to 20-7 on the season and 13-4 in the conference, while the Citadel falls to 5-28 and 0-17 in league play.

Furman will return to the court again tomorrow for its final regular season match of the year. The team will honor its three seniors - Chibuzo Aguocha, Courtney Stewardson, and Kerry Wooten - before taking on the College of Charleston in a final SoCon regular season showdown.