A football team – quite possibly, many other kinds of teams, as well – is formed early in the season.

It’s complicated, but what’s simple is that, in every game, both teams try, and adversity shapes a team’s character.

Mississippi, in beating Furman, 76-0, as quickly as possible, provided the Paladins with lots of character.

How’s that for accentuating the positive?

When Charleston Southern visits on Saturday night at 6, Furman hopes to get the home fires burning. It’s the first of six at Paladin Stadium, Furman’s stately home.

Pregame ceremonies are to honor the memory of Bryce Stanfield, who died after a brief illness on Feb. 9. The game is on 9/7, and Stanfield’s number was 97.

Stanfield, a gentle giant, enjoyed spending time with kids, especially reading to them, and the university is conducting “Bryce’s Book Buddies Donation Drive” with donation receptacles set up at the Champions, Defenders, & Pearce Horton Suite gates of Paladin Stadium.

Furman (0-1) enters the contest ranked 15^th and 16th in weekly polls conducted by the AFCA and Stats Perform. The Paladins, who boast a 10-game home winning streak and seven-game home run of success against non-conference foes, won both prior meetings with Charleston Southern, a 46-13 triumph in 2019 at Paladin Stadium and 24-19 in North Charleston during the 2022 season.

Charleston Southern (0-1) dropped a 22-21 home decision to The Citadel last Saturday.

The Paladins’ lineup in the season opener against FBS sixth-ranked Ole Miss featured 10 first-time starters and a combined 104 career starts. Furman completed its 10-3, Southern Conference championship season with a starting unit of a combined 541 starts.

Furman head coach Clay Hendrix has occasionally quipped that it’s been fun without so many old guys around. Not so much in Oxford, but Hendrix is genuine when he expresses excitement about a new generation of talented players stepping up to the front lines.

The Furman Fan Zone, located adjacent to the Paladin Statue in front of the stadium, will be open to all fans before the game and include live music from Commodore Fox on the Ingles Concert Stage, food trucks, inflatables, face painting and a balloon artist for the kids. The area opens at 3 p.m. and closes 30 minutes before the start of the game.

The Wicked Weed Endzone Experience is slated to open 30 minutes prior to kickoff and is available to all fans free of charge. It is accessible from both the west and east stands and will feature food sales, as well as “the outdoor brewery experience.”

Saturday’s contest will be streamed via ESPN+, and aired over flagship The Fan Upstate and its four affiliates: 97.7 FM/1330 AM in Greenville, and 97.1 FM/950 AM in Spartanburg.  Broadcasts can be secured via Audacy.com, as well as through FurmanPaladins.com.

Five different Paladins recorded double-doubles on Wednesday evening as Furman came back from two sets down to defeat the USC Upstate Spartans, 3-2 (18-25, 19-25, 25-16, 25-23, 15-9) at G.B. Hodge Center in Spartanburg.
Furman evens its record at 2-2 while USC Upstate drops to 0-4.
Chandler Parker, Izzy Castelloe, Mary Beth Headley, Emily Navarro and Quinn Morrissey each had double-doubles.

Bri Brathol and Allison Palmi both recorded double-doubles to lead the Spartans. Julia Gladhill led all players with 29 digs.
The win was the Paladins’ seventh straight in the series, dating back to 2012.

Furman hit .286 in the third set while limiting the Spartans to .000 on nine kills and nine attack errors. Castelloe tallied five kills and three blocks in the frame with the Paladins using an 8-1 run midway to break the scoring open. With the score tied at 12-12, Furman recorded six consecutive points to go ahead 20-13. The Paladins clinched the set, 25-16, after three straight USC Upstate errors.

Furman kept the Spartans under .100 hitting throughout the fourth set with the visitors receiving a combined 10 kills from Parker, Grainne McGrath, and Ava Augustson for the 25-23 win. The Paladins trailed 21-17 late in the set before trimming their deficit down to 22-21 when Augustson connected on a kill. Furman was down 23-21 but answered back with the next two points capped by a combination block from Castelloe and Headley. A USC Upstate attack error and Headley kill gave the Paladins the 25-23 triumph.

Furman got off to a 6-2 start to begin the fifth set capped by a Spartan attack error. USC Upstate got to within 8-6 but the Paladins ended the match on a 7-3 run. After the Spartans made the score 10-7, Furman reeled off four straight points to sit at set point, 14-7, following a combination block from Parker and Castelloe. The Paladins picked up the set, 15-9, on another USC Upstate error to secure the 3-2 victory.

Furman concluded the match with a .146 hitting percentage and registered a season high 12 blocks.

The Paladins return to action next Tuesday, September 10 when they travel to Boiling Springs, N.C. for a 6 p.m. first serve at Gardner-Webb. Fans can follow the action on http://www.furmanpaladins.com via live stats. The match is being streamed via paid subscription on ESPN+. Updates will also be posted on the Furman volleyball Twitter page (@FurmanVB).

Bri Brathol and Allison Palmi both recorded double-doubles to lead the Spartans. Julia Gladhill led all players with 29 digs.
The win was the Paladins’ seventh straight in the series, dating back to 2012.

Furman hit .286 in the third set while limiting the Spartans to .000 on nine kills and nine attack errors.
Furman got off to a 6-2 start to begin the fifth set, capped by a Spartan attack error. USC Upstate got to within 8-6 but the Paladins ended the match on a 7-3 run. The Paladins return to action next Tuesday when they travel to Boiling Springs, N.C. for a 6 p.m. first serve at Gardner-Webb.

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