Furman, Samford set to clash in semifinals

No. 5 Furman downs No. 4 Wofford to advance to semis 

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Fifth-seeded Furman downed No. 4 Wofford 3-1 in Friday’s first match at the Southern Conference Volleyball Championship. The Paladins advance to face the winner of top-seed Samford and eighth-seeded The Citadel in the semifinals, slated for Saturday, Nov. 23, at 2 p.m. in Wofford’s Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium.

In the first set, Wofford got on the board first on a kill by Catie Cronister, a second-team all-conference selection. The match was back-and-forth, and with the teams tied at 11, Furman railed off three straight points and forced a Wofford timeout leading 14-11. The timeout didn’t stop the Furman offensive attack and the Paladins added four more to their lead, jumping out to an 18-11 advantage. A kill by Terrier senior Kelly Bossert stopped the Furman rally but the Paladins outscored the Terriers 7-3 down the stretch to take the opening set 25-15.

In the second set, a kill by Madison Gresham put the Paladins on the board first. Wofford answered with a kill by second-team all-conference selection Riley Coonan. The Terriers took a 5-2 lead, but Furman tied it at 6. The match was tied at 7 and 9 before Furman scored four straight to take a 13-9 lead and force a Wofford timeout. The Paladins tacked on two more out of the timeout to push the lead to 15-9 before Wofford scored the next two to pull within four at 15-11. The Paladins answered by winning four of the next five points to go ahead 19-12 before Wofford used its second and final timeout of the set.

The timeout helped as Wofford won the first two points out of the break to cut the lead to five, but Furman resumed control with a kill by Nicole Mack, a second-team all-conference selection, that put the Paladins out in front 20-14. Wofford began to chip away at the lead and pulled within three at 23-20, but back-to-back Wofford errors gave Furman the 25-20 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.

Wofford got on the board first in set three thanks to a kill from Coonan. The Terriers quickly jumped out to a 5-1 lead and led by at least two until a kill by Courtney Hoffman pulled the Paladins within one at 12-11. Wofford answered with three straight points, capped off by an ace from freshman Bella Zeman, and ran the lead back to four, 15-11. Wofford kept the pressure on and pushed the lead to five, at 19-14 and again at 21-16, but Furman won four straight to pull within one, 21-20. Leading 22-21, Wofford went on a rally of its own as a kill by SoCon all-freshman selection Meghan Yaffa and back-to-back kills by Cronister finished off the set and gave Wofford a 25-21 win to cut Furman’s lead to 2-1.

Kills by Coonan and Cronister put Wofford out in front 2-0 to open set four. Wofford’s lead quickly stretched to eight, 11-4, and Furman called a timeout. Furman won the next three points to make it 11-7, and though Wofford won the following point to lead 12-7, the Paladins answered with five straight to tie it at 12. From there, neither team led by more than two points until the Paladins jumped in front 17-14. Wofford was unable to get within three after that and the Paladins hung on to win 25-21 and take the match 3-1.

Mack led Furman with 17 kills and added 15 digs to earn a double-double, while Cronister’ s 20 kills for the Terriers were a match high. Cronister tallied 12 digs and earned a double-double, as did her teammate, setter Lorissa King, who tallied 46 assists and 12 digs.  Yaffa (10) and Coonan (13) joined Cronister in double-digit kills, while Mack was joined by Neci Harris, a first-team all-conference selection, who finished with 10 kills and hit a match-high .500. 

Top seed Samford advances to semifinals with sweep of The Citadel

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – In Friday’s second match of the 2019 Southern Conference Volleyball Championship, top seed Samford swept No. 8 The Citadel to advance to the semifinals on Saturday, Nov. 23, at 2 p.m. in Wofford’s Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium. The Bulldogs will match up with No. 5 Furman, who defeated fourth-seeded Wofford 3-1 in the first match on Friday.

The Citadel got on the board first off a Samford attack error before Samford tied it up on an attack error by The Citadel. Neither team led by more than two until an attack error by The Citadel pushed Samford in front 10-7. The Citadel cut the lead to one, 11-10, but Samford won 9 of the last 11 points to stretch it back out to eight, 20-12. The Citadel rallied to win eight of the next 11 to pull within three, 23-20, but Samford held on to win 25-21.

Samford jumped out to a 3-0 lead to begin the second set. After a Samford service error put The Citadel on the board, Samford rebounded to score the next four and push the lead to 7-1. The Citadel responded with three straight to make it 7-4 before Samford had a rally of its own and ran the lead to 11-4 after four  straight points. Samford’s lead was at least five and as many as 13 as Keylor Chan’s squad won the set 25-12. Samford hit .379 in the set while The Citadel hit -.077.

Samford came out firing in the third set and jumped out to an 8-2 lead. The margin quickly jumped to nine, 12-3. The Citadel answered with two straight before Samford sided out. Samford kept its foot on the gas and pushed the score to 17-5 and 20-6 before cruising to a 25-10 win to clinch the sweep.

Kelsi Hobbs, the SoCon Player of the Year, led all players with 10 kills, while teammate Grace Tiesman had a match-high nine digs. Samford hit .360 in the match while holding The Citadel to .000.

No. 2 Samford and No. 3 Furman met in the semifinals last season as the Bulldogs swept the Paladins en route to winning the SoCon Championship.

2019 Southern Conference Volleyball Championship
Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium ▪ Spartanburg, S.C.

Tuesday, Nov. 19
First Round
Match 1: #8 The Citadel 3, #9 Chattanooga 0 in Charleston, South Carolina (SDN/Roku)

Friday, Nov. 22
Quarterfinals
Match 2: #5 Furman 3, #4 Wofford 1 (SDN/Roku)
Match 3: #1 Samford 3, #8 The Citadel 0 (SDN/Roku)
Match 4: #2 ETSU vs. #7 UNCG, 4:30 p.m. (SDN/Roku)
Match 5: #3 Western Carolina vs. #6 Mercer, 7 p.m. (SDN/Roku)

Saturday, Nov. 23
Semifinals
Match 6: #5 Furman vs. No. 1 Samford, 2 p.m. (SDN/Roku)
Match 7: Match 4 winner vs. Match 5 winner, 4:30 p.m. (SDN/Roku)

Sunday, Nov. 24
Championship
Match 8: Match 6 winner vs. Match 7 winner, 2 p.m. (ESPN+)

-www.SoConSports.com-