Furman, Samford Advance to SoCon Championship Match

Samford 3, UNCG 0

GREENSBORO, N.C. – No. 2 seed Samford (19-12) swept No. 3 seed UNCG (20-11) at Fleming Gym on Sunday evening in the SoCon Volleyball Championship Semifinals. The Bulldogs topped the Spartans by set scores of 25-18, 25-15, 25-23.

Erin Bognar and Gabbi Greenwald led the Bulldogs with a match-high 13 kills apiece. Chelsi Carter paced the team with a match-high 22 digs. As a team, the Bulldogs hit .297 for the match, the highest single-match mark of the tournament so far.

Jessica Brezywn led the Spartans with 10 kills, while Katherine Santiago totaled 14 digs in the match. The Spartans struggled offensively, though, hitting just .085 for match.

Samford and UNCG traded blows for much of set one, drawing to a 10-10. Samford then took the next point and led for the remainder of the period. The Bulldogs opened a 16-13 lead before UNCG drew close at 16-15. Samford outscored the Spartans 9-3 the rest of the way to claim set one, 25-18. The Bulldogs recorded a strong .382 hitting percentage for the period with UNCG hitting just .111.

Set two was largely controlled by Samford. The two drew to a 4-4 tie after which the Bulldogs once again never trailed in the set. Samford pulled to a three-point lead at 13-10 and later extended it to 16-12 to force a UNCG timeout. The Bulldogs closed out the set on an 8-3 run to finish it, 25-15.

The third set was a back-and-forth affair that featured six tie scores and three lead changes. UNCG got things going early, streaking to a 12-6 lead. Samford responded with a 6-0 run to even the frame at 12 apiece. UNCG was able to maintain a two-point margin until Samford evened the match at 18-18. The Bulldogs pushed the set to 20-18 but UNCG immediately pulled it back to 20-20. UNCG would then take a 23-21 lead but the Samford offense would prove too much as it closed out the set, 25-23, and take the sweep.

Samford will play in Monday’s title game at 6 p.m. against the Furman Paladins.

 

Furman 3, Western Carolina 2

GREENSBORO, N.C. – No. 1 seed Furman (23-6) overcame a 2-0 deficit to No. 5 Western Carolina (17-15) for a five-set win at Fleming Gym on Sunday afternoon in the SoCon Volleyball Championship Semifinals. The Catamounts took sets one and two, 25-21 and 25-20, before Furman took the final three by scores of 25-8, 25-16, 25-12.

Furman advances to the SoCon title match for the second time in three seasons. The claimed the SoCon Regular Season title this season with a 14-2 league record.

The Paladins were led by Andrea Fisher with a career-high and tournament-best 28 kills, while also totaling 20 digs in the match for her fourth double-double of the season. Annie Bierman added 16 kills and 29 digs for Furman, Ashton Gregory put down 13 kills with seven blocks, and Kasey Hohlen came off the bench for 10 kills and a .692 hitting percentage. Furman had five players with double-digit digs in the match, paced by Bierman with 29 and Meg DeMaar with 25.

Western Carolina was paced by Caitlin Piechota with 16 kills with Jordan Timmermann second with 12 and Addy George with 10. Timmermann and Piechota each added 14 and 13 digs, respectively. Libero Elyssa Mulheron recorded a match-high 31 digs for the Catamounts.

The match was third straight five-set match at the SoCon Championship. It featured 25 tie scores and 11 lead changes, including eight tie scores and four lead changes in set five alone.

In set one, Furman was able to grab an early 4-0 lead and held the advantage until Western Carolina evened the score at 8-8. From there, the Catamounts were able to control the set, moving out to a 14-10 lead to force a Furman timeout. The teams traded points for the remainder of the set but Furman could never cut the Western Carolina lead to less than three. The Catamounts held off a late surge from the Paladins to claim set one, 25-21.

Western Carolina worked its way out to a 12-7 lead to force a Furman timeout. The Catamounts would extend the lead to 14-8 but Furman would slowly find its way back in to the match. The Paladins were able to force a Western Carolina timeout down one at 18-17 before taking the lead two points later 19-18. The Catamounts responded, though, and would go on to take the final six points of set two for the 25-20 victory and a 2-0 match lead.

The third set saw Furman develop and hold an early lead. With the score even at 4-4, the Paladins were able to pull ahead at 11-6 to force a Western Carolina timeout. Furman would take the next six points from there as part of a 9-0 run to push the score to 16-6 at the time. The remainder of the set would be all Furman as it went on to close out the set 25-8. The Paladins hit .367 for the set and held Western Carolina to a negative hitting percentage.

The fourth set was close until Furman pulled away late as its offense continued to excel. The Paladins lead most of the set but could never build a lead larger than four. Western Carolina pulled to within one at 15-14 but Furman carried a 10-2 run to finish the set at 25-16. Once again Furman hit over .300 in the frame, while the Catamounts managed just a .109 hitting percentage.

Set five was a battle from the outset with neither team wanting to budge. Furman led by one point at 8-7, as the two teams changed sides halfway through the set. A few points later Western Carolina had the lead at 11-9 but Furman countered with four straight points to take a 13-11 lead. Furman would close out the set and the match three points later at 15-12.

Furman will play in Monday’s title game at 6 p.m. against the winner of the Samford/UNCG match.