FURMAN FALLS TO ETSU IN 3-2 THRILLER
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. -- The East Tennessee State Buccaneer volleyball team
defeated the Furman Paladins, 3-2 (30-18, 22-30, 28-30, 30-21, 15-13) in a thrilling
Southern Conference match Friday night from Brooks Gym in Johnson City.
The Bucs (16-3, 11-3 SoCon) jumped out to an early lead in game one and cruised
to a 30-18 victory.
Game two was almost a complete turnaround as the Paladins (12-9, 8-7) jumped
out to a quick lead and comfortably won the second stanza, 30-22.
Game three was an exciting back-and-forth affair that truly went down to the
wire. The two teams traded points early before the Bucs opened up a seemingly
comfortable 14-10 lead. The Paladins then went on a 6-0 tear, taking a 16-14
advantage. The Paladins would widen their lead until ETSU would make a charge
of their own to cut the Furman lead to 29-28. The Paladins would then take the
next point to win the third game 30-28.
Game four was very similar to the first two as the Bucs would take a small lead,
and expand it throughout to claim a 30-21 victory.
The decisive fifth game was a tense battle as the two teams again went down
to the wire. The Bucs seemed to have closed out the match when they had a 14-10
lead late in the final game. The Paladins the won three straight points to again
put the game in doubt. However, ETSU was able to close out the match 15-13.
The Bucs were led by senior setter Carey Cavanaugh (Munroe Falls, Ohio) who
had a tremendous match. Cavanaugh had a season-high 62 assists, a match-high
19 digs and 10 kills. Six Buccaneers had double-digit kills on the evening,
led by sophomore Lissa Allenšs (Palm Bay, Fla.) team-high 17. Cavanaugh, Allen,
Amber Ciskowski (Phoenix, Ariz.) and Karen Freeburg (Newcastle, Ind.) all registered
double-doubles on the evening.
The Paladins were paced by junior outside hitter Abby Simon who had 17 kills
and 13 assists. Junior middle blocker Laura Bush had a match-high 18 kills against
just four hitting errors. Senior setter Laura Hooks led Furman with 47 assists.