Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina volleyball began its second straight home weekend on the wrong end of a straight-set decision, falling to Furman Friday on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center. The Paladins earned the win, 25-18, 25-17, and 25-14.
Freshman Ashlyn Cobb and sophomore Tatum Sharp led the attack with seven kills and three digs apiece, with Cobb earning a pair of service aces. Senior Zoe Zudans chipped in six kills for WCU, while freshman JoJo Abeyta had four and fellow freshman Taylor Baggett secured three. Senior Katie Boney dished out 28 assists, along with a pair of kills and a block. Defensively, sophomore Elise Gurley led the Catamounts with 14 digs as Abeyta had a team-best two blocks.
Amber Watson paced all players on Friday with a match-high 12 kills, followed by 10 from Kacie Moore for two Paladins in double figures. Izzy Castelloe contributed to the Furman stat line with eight kills. Emily Navarro led the guests with 21 assists and Morgan Baldridge had 16, as the pair had seven digs each. Moore and Campbell Woods both served three aces as part of the squad's 11. Kennedy Seekford led the way for the Paladins with 17 digs. Moore had a match-high four blocks.
WCU took advantage of a slow start by the Paladins with an early 5-3 lead. Furman responded quickly, though, with a 12-2 run to take control of the set at 15-7. Following a back-and-forth battle that kept the set deficit at eight, 19-11, the Catamounts responded with a 7-2 burst to close to within three, 21-18. But Furman scored the final four of the set to take the opener 25-18.
The Paladins jumped out to a 6-2 lead in set No. 2 before WCU managed to cut it back to three at 8-5. Furman stretched the lead to eight, 18-10 on the heels of a 10-5 spurt. The two sides traded the final 14 points with Furman taking the set 25-17.
A decisive 12-4 start in the third allowed Furman to seize early control of the set. WCU scored the next five points to cut the deficit to three, 12-9, but were unable to get any closer as Furman closed on a 13-5 run to complete the three-set sweep.
Western Carolina (5-14, 1-5 SoCon) returns to the court on Saturday, Oct. 10 at 2 p.m. for a rematch against Furman. Saturday's contest will serve as the team's annual 'White Out' with fans encouraged to wear their white WCU gear. The match will stream on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live stats available at CatamountSports.com.
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