Final Stats

CULLOWHEE, N.C. - The Western Carolina volleyball team fell at home Wednesday night to Furman University 3-0 in Southern Conference action. The Paladins powered past the Catamounts 25-17, 25-12 and 25-21.

WCU struggled to get its offense rolling in the three set match but freshmen Alyssa Zupan and Devan Ingram led the way with seven kills each. Zupan added three blocks to her score line including a solo stop.

Sophomore Jo-Leigh Vervelde led the team in both assists and digs with 13 and 10, respectively. She also chipped in a pair of blocks. Sophomore Katie O'Connor tied for the team lead with three blocks including one solo while senior Nicole Ford chipped in three block assists.

Sophomore Lucy Lambert spent one set at libero and dug up nine ball in the loss.

The victory gives Furman a 9-4 overall record and a perfect 3-0 Southern Conference mark. The Paladins have now won 11-staright Southern Conference matches dating back to last season. The Catamounts fell to 7-12 overall and 1-2 in SoCon action.

Christen Sikora and Taina Joseph shared the team lead for the Paladins with 10 kills each. Annie Bierman added nine kills and a team-high 14 digs. Setter Jo Wilks dished out 39 assists in just three sets.

The Catamounts led just twice in the match as the Paladins controlled most of the play. The third set was the most highly contested segment of the match and at one point the Catamounts had back-to-back-to-back blocks to cut the Paladin lead to just one midway through the stanza. The Paladins closed out the set with a 6-3 run to capture the match 25-21.

WCU hut just .068 as a unit while the Paladins combined to hit .271. Furman was also able to take advantage of 10 service aces while Western Carolina put down three aces.

The Catamounts will return to action this Saturday as they travel to UNCG for a 7 pm match.