Saturday, October 23, 2004

(Oct. 23, 2004) - Chibuzo Aguocha registered seven of her game-high 23 kills in the deciding fifth game to lead Furman to a 3-2 victory over visiting East Tennessee State in volleyball action Saturday afternoon at Alley Gym.  ETSU jumped to a 1-0 lead behind Jennifer Sartor's (Toronto, Canada) six kills in game one to give the Bucs a 30-26 win.  The Lady Paladins rallied in game two for a 30-26 win led by Aguocha's seven kills.

Furman edged East Tennessee State 32-30 in game three.  The Lady Paladins recorded four blocks and sophomore Ally Hock contributed seven kills to give Furman the 2-1 lead.

In game four, East Tennessee State opened up an 18-10 advantage and cruised to a decisive 30-21 win to force a deciding fifth game.  The Bucs limited Furman to an .068 hitting percentage.

Furman jumped out to a 4-1 lead in game five and outlasted ETSU for the 15-9 win while hitting .474.  Aguocha tallied 23 kills, two solo blocks and three block assists to pace the Lady Paladins.  Whitney Purser recorded 20 kills and 14 digs, while Hock added 15 kills and 16 digs.  Setter Courtney Stewardson registered seven kills and a match-high 54 assists to go with 11 digs.

Sartor totaled 15 kills to lead ETSU and Brittany Kessel (Libertyville, Ill.) led the Bucs with 46 assists.  Karen Freeburg (New Castle, Ind.) and Sara Scandiffio (Purcellville, Va.) tallied 10 kills and 10 digs and 11 kills and 11 digs, respectively.

Furman improves to 9-12 overall and 4-5 in the Southern Conference, while East Tennessee State falls to 4-16 overall and 3-7 in league play.

ETSU travels to Spartanburg, S.C. to face Wofford tomorrow in Southern Conference action, game time is set for 2:00 pm.