GREENVILLE, S.C. – UNCG hit the road for the final time this season and failed to have one player record double-digit kills as the Spartans fell to Furman, 3-0, on Saturday night in Alley Gymnasium.
The Spartans dropped to 19-10 this season and an even 7-7 in the Southern Conference. The Paladins improved their overall record to 16-10 and moved to 10-4 in the conference.
"Tonight was a tough match," said coach Patrick Nicholas. "We didn't pass or serve particularly well tonight, but when we did pass well Kayren (Finney) and Billi (Baker) were effective. I thought Karrian (Chambers) played well off the bench and really showed her potential against the defending South Division champs. We started serving better in the final set, but some costly unforced errors did us in."
Ariel Newman led the Spartans offensively with nine kills and also had eight digs. It marked just the second time in the last 17 games that Newman hasn't had double-digit kills. Billi Baker, Kayren Finney and Olivia Humphries each added six kills and Karrian Chambers had a team-high 11 digs.
Chandler Ambrester had a match-high 14 kills for the Paladins and had an incredible .609 hitting percentage. Caroline Adams and Kelly Kirby added 12 and 10 kills, respectively. Kirby also had 19 assists and 10 digs for a triple-double and Natalie Braun had a match-high 16 digs.
In the opening set, the two sides were tied at six early in the set before the Paladins ran off five points in a row to go ahead, 11-6. Furman continued to extend its lead throughout the set before using a Spartan attack error to win the set, 25-15.
The Spartans trailed just 9-8 in the second set and then the Paladins used a kill and ace as they took a 12-8 lead. Furman held that four-point lead at 21-17 before taking the set, 25-19, on a kill by Adams.
The third and final set was much closer as the teams exchanged the lead five times and were tied a total of 10 times. The teams traded points early in the set before a kill by Newman gave the Spartans a 12-9 lead. The Paladins came back to tie it at 15, but the Spartans went back ahead 21-18 on another Newman kill.
After a Furman timeout, the Paladins found themselves trailing 22-19, but they rallied to win the final six points of the match to win the set, 25-22.
The Spartans will return home on Tuesday as they host High Point at 7 p.m. in Fleming Gymnasium for the final midweek game of the season for UNCG.
AGATE
Furman def. UNCG 25-15, 25-19, 25-22
UNCG (19-10, 7-7 SoCon) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Ariel Newman 9-1-0; Kayren Finney 6-0-2; Billi Baker 6-1-0; Olivia Humphries 6-2-1; Karrian Chambers 4-0-1; Caley Redden 2-0-0; Ari Lysacek 0-0-1; Totals 33-4-3.0. (Assists) - Ari Lysacek 27. (Dig leaders) - Karrian Chambers 11; Kellie Orewiler 10; Ariel Newman 8
Furman (16-10, 10-4 SoCon) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Chandler Ambrester 14-0-0; Caroline Adams 12-0-3; Kelly Kirby 10-0-0; Katherine Hall 8-0-0; Alexis Shaffer 2-0-1; Christina Dorismond 1-0-2; Sarah McCarthy 0-1-0; Natalie Braun 0-2-0; Totals 47-3-4.0. (Assists) - Sarah McCarthy 21; Kelly Kirby 19. (Dig leaders) - Natalie Braun 16; Sarah McCarthy 13; Kelly Kirby 10
Site: Greenville, S.C. (Alley Gymnasium)
Date: Nov 06, 2010 Attend: 421 Time: 1:25
Referees: Arleen Hughes, Suzanne Weissenburge
- UNCG -
