Samford, Furman Advance to Semifinals

Tied at 12 in the fifth set, two Wofford errors put Furman in control with match point. Andrea Fisher sealed the game for the Paladins with an ace, bringing the crowd to their feet and putting Furman in Saturday’s semifinals. The Paladins held Wofford to a .136 hitting clip in the set.

Fisher finished with a double-double, posting 15 kills and 11 digs in the Paladin win. Ashton Gregory and Christina Dorismond also reached double-figure kills, finishing with 14 and 13, respectively. Jo Wilks dished out 52 assists in the win, while Annie Bierman and Elle Ross each finished with 16 digs. Ross set the Furman single-season record for digs in a season in the victory.

Wofford got a great effort from Taylor Baird, who tied her second-best performance of the season with 26 kills. Wendy Burnett also led the offensive attach, scoring 19 kills and hitting .421 on the night. Amanda Liguori finished with a double-double in a losing effort, totaling 13 kills and 11 digs. Bekah Dorsey tallied 53 assists and Jessica Graham posted 25 digs.

The teams battled back and forth for the entire opening set, with neither team getting more than a two point advantage. The Paladins had a chance to take the set with a 24-23 lead, but Baird smashed a kill to give Wofford hope. Wofford got its own opportunity to close out the set after an attack error from Dorismond, but Furman’s Annie Bierman got a kill on the next point to tie things at 25. Burnett answered with a kill of her own before scoring the set win on a block from Burnett and Ellie Tallman.

The second set was locked up at 13 when Furman took six of the next seven points, highlighted by kills from Andrea Fisher and Ashton Gregory, to take an 18-14 lead. Wofford earned a point back on a service error, but the Paladins rolled off four straight points to build a lead the Terriers could not overcome. Annie Bierman and Gregory scored kills to give Furman a 25-18 set win and tie that match 1-1. Wofford committed nine errors in the set, hitting just. 118.

The Paladin defense continued its play in the third set, winning 25-19 and holding Wofford to a .184 hitting percentage. The Paladins totaled 16 digs in the set and got two blocks to slow the Terrier attack. A service error by the Terriers got Furman the first points of a 4-0 run to extend its lead to 23-17 late in the match. Furman scored on an error before Christina Dorismond closed the set with a kill.

Furman led 13-8 in the fourth, but Wofford rolled off four straight points to get within one. After Wofford tied things up at 16, Ashton Gregory smashed three consecutive kills to give the Paladins the lead and the momentum. Wofford then scored eight of the next 10 points, highlighted by four Taylor Baird kills, putting the Terriers up 23-21. After exchanging points, Burnett slammed home a kill to win the set 25-23 for Wofford and tie the match 2-2.

Furman will face third-seeded Samford at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at Timmons Arena. Top-seeded Georgia-Southern will take on No. 5 seed Appalachian State in the first semifinal game at 5 p.m.

Samford 3, Western Carolina 0
GREENVILLE, S.C. — Samford used four players with double-digit kills and stingy defense to post a 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-16) win over Western Carolina and earn a spot in the semifinals of the Southern Conference Volleyball Tournament on Friday.

Erin Bognar (12), Stephanie Palmer (11), Gabbi Greenwald (11) and Michaela Reesor each finished with double-figure kills, while the Bulldog defense held WCU to a .157 hitting mark in the match. Chelsi Carter posted her eighth 20-dig match of the year with a 21-dig performance. Palmer also dished out 34 assists in the match.

Jordan Timmermann finished with nine kills for WCU and Cristina Nazario posted 28 assists in a losing effort. The Catamounts .157 hitting mark was tied for their second lowest of the season, and their nine service errors tied a season-high. Morgan Cochran finished with 19 digs, becoming WCU’s all-time leader in digs during the second set.

The Bulldogs faced their biggest test in the opening set, as Erin Bognar notched 2 kills early to give the Bulldogs a 5-1 lead. The Bulldogs pushed their lead to 12-7 before WCU began chipping away at the defecit, eventually cutting the score to 21-20. The Catamounts could not tie the score, as Michaela Reesor and Gabbi Greenwald each notched kills to help the Bulldogs close the set with a 25-22 win.

Tied 8-8 in the second frame, Samford fired off six straight points, four of which came on Catamount errors. WCU could not overcome the run, failing to bring the score within five the remainder of the set. The Buldogs got six kills from Greenwald and five from Stephanie Palmer, who was a perfect five-for-five on attacks in set two. The Bulldog offense hit .400 in the set, while their defense held Western Carolina to a .108 hitting mark.

After Samford took a 4-0 lead early, Western Carolina battled back to even things up at nine behind three Addy George kills. The Bulldog defense would not let the Catamounts stick around, holding WCU to a .067 hitting clip in the set. Bognar’s four kills helped Samford take the set 25-16 and earn the sweep.

With the win, Samford advances to the semifinals of the Southern Conference Tournament and will face the winner of Furman and Wofford on Saturday.