November 14, 2003

FURMAN VOLLEYBALL WINS FIVE-GAMER AGAINST DAVIDSON

GREENVILLE, South Carolina -- The Furman volleyball team avenged a 3-2 loss to Davidson earlier this season with a 3-2 victory of their own Friday night in Timmons Arena.

The Wildcats jumped out to an early advantage, hitting .469 in game one to hand Furman a 30-24 loss. The Lady Paladins rebounded in game two with a 30-27 victory and then hit an imnpressive .552 in taking a 30-14 win in game three. The Wildcats refused to go quietly, however, and scored a 30-23 win in the fourth game, forcing a decisive game five.

In game five the Lady Paladins fell behind 5-0 and were down 9-6 when Julia Fredrikson began serving. Fredrickson served six consecutive points to give Furman the 12-10 advantage. A kill by Amber Montague returned the serve to Furman and gave the Lady Paladins a 13-10 lead, then Montague made it game point with the last of her 17 kills on the night. The game’s final point went Furman’s way when Davidson’s Meredith Lorenz hit into a block by Caitlin White and Ally Hock, and Furman took a 15-12 decision in the final game.

In addition to Montague’s 17 kills on the night, freshman Whitney Purser added 17, White totaled 15, and Ally Hock scored 12. Montague also recorded a team-high 16 digs, while White totaled seven blocks and Purser served up a team-best two aces. Setter Molly Rybak tallied 57 of the Lady Paladins’ 68 assists and hit .500 with five kills.

The Wildcats were led by Liz Williamson’s 17 kills, while Latisha Chapman set a new school record for kills in a season with 13, which gives her 561 on the season. Nicole Tonelli tallied a team-best 16 digs and Chapman led the net defense, with six blocks.

With the win Furman improves to 15-13 on the year and 12-5 in the Southern Conference, while Davidson falls to 13-20 overall and 6-11 in league play. The Lady Paladins will end the regular season on Sunday when they host a 2 p.m. match against Georgia Southern

FUR def. DAV 24-30, 30-27, 30-14, 23-30, 15-12