Boxscore
GREENVILLE, S.C. ? Senior setter Courtney Stewardson dished out a match-high 66 assists and senior outside hitter Chibuzo Aguocha led all hitters with 28 kills to lead Furman (13-4, 6-1) to a 3-2 victory over Chattanooga (9-8, 4-1) Saturday afternoon at Alley Gym in Greenville, S.C. The Paladins withstood a fierce rally to take the match 30-28, 36-34, 24-30, 26-30, 15-9 to move into second place in the Southern Conference, ahead of the Lady Mocs.
Game 1 set the tone for the rest of the match as the two teams traded leads with Chattanooga going ahead 10-6 and Furman rallying to a take a 15-13 lead before the two teams locked horns at 16-16. After a brief 19-16 Paladin advantage, the teams would play to six ties and see the lead change hands three times before drawing even again at 27-27.
Junior outside hitter Allison West then notched the final three points by kill to secure a 30-28 victory for Furman and a 1-0 match lead. West finished with 10 kills in the game and, at one point, recorded five of six points for the Paladins by kill.
After Furman opened with 5-0 and 15-8 leads, Game 2 looked like it would be anything but a grueling marathon. That was until Chattanooga posted a 9-2 run to tie the score at 17-17 and force two more ties before taking a 27-25 lead. Back-to-back kills by freshman outside hitter Aurore Kullak (Beloeil, Belgium) and junior right side hitter Laura Nethery (Hixson, Tenn.) brought the Lady Mocs to game point at 29-26.
The Paladins would have none of it, as they rallied to score the next four points on back-to-back kills by senior middle blocker Kerry Wooten and one by West to go ahead 30-29. The two teams then exchanged points to make the score 31-31 before Chattanooga took the lead, 32-31, on a Nethery kill. Back-to-back points by Furman put them ahead 33-32 before a service error once again tied the game, this time at 33-33. West and UTC senior middle blocker Leslee Ball (Sycamore, Ill.) then traded kills to retie the score at 34-34 before the Paladins put the game away 36-34, aided by an Aguocha kill and an error.
Down 0-2, the Lady Mocs were far from done as they battled out to leads of 10-7 and 17-13 in Game 3. Furman eventually tied the score at 17-17, and would force four more ties, before Chattanooga pulled back ahead, 22-21, before closing out the game with an 8-3 run for a 30-24 victory.
UTC kept their level of play high in a tightly contested fourth game, once again pulling out to a 10-6 lead. After the Paladins mounted a 5-0 run to take the lead 11-10, the two teams then exchanged points for 18 of the next 19 points until Chattanooga finally went ahead 21-20. The Lady Mocs proceeded to score the next five points to cap off a 6-0 run and extend their lead to 26-20 before withstanding a Furman rally to close out the game 30-26 and even the match at two games a piece.
The decisive fifth and final game would be a very different story from the first four games, however, as the Paladins were dominant, scoring the first four points as they jumped out to a commanding 10-3 lead. Furman would go on to wrap up the game 15-9, and the match 3-2, to pull into second place in the Southern Conference with a 6-1 mark.
Both teams had several outstanding individual performances. For the Paladins, Stewardson topped her season-high in assists with 66, tied for the fourth most by a Southern Conference player this season, and added 18 digs while Aguocha drilled a match-high 28 kills and added 20 digs. The 28 kills are tied for the third most by a SoCon player in 2007.
Junior libero Pamela Gehrke led the team with 24 digs and Wooten posted a double-double with 13 kills and 11 blocks. West finished with 18 kills and 13 digs while junior middle blocker Nicole Palazzo added 13 kills.
For Chattanooga, senior setter Bethany Herndon (Richmond, Texas) posted a career-high tying 63 assists along with 11 digs while Leslee Ball finished with a team-high 23 kills and 13 digs. The 23 kills move Ball past Carol Reedus for fourth place on the Lady Mocs all-time kills list with 1,189. Junior libero Lara Newberry (Chattanooga, Tenn.) posted a match-high 34 digs while Kullak added 15 kills and 14 digs. Nethery added 15 kills and junior setter Michaela Huff (Dallas, Texas) finished with 15 digs.
The Lady Mocs will wrap up weekend action tomorrow afternoon when they travel to Wofford for a 2 p.m. contest.
NOTES
Herndon had previously registered 63 assists at Lipscomb on November 9, 2004 ... the loss snaps the Lady Mocs five match regular season Southern Conference undefeated streak dating back to November 11 of last season ... Furman was the last SoCon team to defeat Chattanooga, winning 3-0 at Maclellan Gym last season.
