Apart from the homecoming massacre of ’24, the recent athletics events at Furman haven’t been half bad.
Texas A&M edged the Paladins by two strokes in the 54th Furman Intercollegiate, setting a tournament record of 831, a shot better than Furman while winning last year.
Wake Forest (-19) finished third in the 15-team field.
Scotty Kennon (-11) of Wake Forest won the individual championship with a 54-hole score of 68-68-66=202, taking the win by three strokes and also establishing a new tournament record. He broke the former record of 203, which was set by Furman’s Jack Kay in 1986.
The Paladins placed three players among the top eight: juniors Harris Barth (-6) and Clark Akers (-6), who tied for fifth, and senior Trey Diehl (-5), who placed eighth.
Akers was one of three Paladins to card a 1-under 70 in the final round. He recorded two birdies on the front and two on the back, while Diehl scored a 70 with a birdie on No. 2 and three birdies on the back. Senior Will Morlan (+4) scored three straight birdies from No. 10 through 12 and added a final birdie on 18 to finish with a 70 and tie for 37th.
The Furman Intercollegiate concludes the fall season for the Paladins. Furman opens the 2025 spring season Feb. 15-16 at the Gator Invitational in Gainesville, Fla.
Furman scored three goals in the opening 36 minutes and cruised to a 4-0 victory over Wofford in Southern Conference women’s soccer action Sunday afternoon at Stone Stadium.
The Paladins (8-5-3, 4-1-2 SoCon) opened the scoring just 2:38 into the match when Shania Diaz lofted a cross from the left wing to a charging Tara Katz, who headed into the right side of the net from the top of the six-yard box, to give Furman a 1-0 lead. In the 23rd minute, Ellie Herrmann sent a long free kick towards the far-left side of the box that Katie Bengough headed across the face of goal for fifth-year senior Nieva Gaither to tap in to double the advantage.
Sophomore Norah Roller capped the first-half outburst at the 36-minute mark by running onto a failed clearance by the Terriers and burying her first touch into the right side of the net to put the Paladins in front 3-0 at intermission.
Senior Ashlyn Goila upped the margin to 4-0 in the 71st minute by rushing down the right side, rounding her defender, and sending a shot across goal and off the left post for her third goal of the season.
“It was great to bounce back with a victory and have four different goal scorers today,” said Paladin head coach Andrew Burr. “We were able to play a lot of players today and get the result we needed to stay in the SoCon race.”
The Paladins compiled an 18-10 advantage in total shots and an 8-5 edge in shots on goal. Reese DeJong stopped five shots to earn the victory on goal while L.J. Wise saw her first action of the season between the pipes for the Paladins. Elizabeth Navola recorded four saves for Wofford (5-10-2, 1-6-1).
Furman concludes its regular season home schedule on Thursday night when it plays host to the SoCon-leading Western Carolina Catamounts. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
Furman men’s soccer matched a season-high with four goals on Saturday night en route to a 4-1 victory over VMI at Stone Stadium.
Furman improved to 6-3-2 on the season and evened its conference record at 1-1. VMI slipped to 5-7-2 overall and 0-3 in SoCon play.
The Paladins, who celebrated seniors Ivan Agyaakwah, Christian Kraus and Spencer Mallion prior to kickoff, opened the scoring in the fourth minute on Slade Starnes’ first goal of the season. Following a long throw-in, Agyaakwah headed a shot off the cross bar that caromed to Starnes in the middle of the box and the sophomore snuck his shot through traffic at the 3:49 mark to give Furman a 1-0 lead.
VMI tied it in the 32nd minute as Grant Martin got on the end of an Anthony Huang cross from the right wing and headed his shot past goalkeeper Aaron Salinas to even the match at 1-1. Less than two minutes later, Furman restored its lead for good when Wilfer Bustamante won the race to a loose ball following a save by VMI’s Zack Murphy and played a pass to Lloyd Wamu Snell in the middle of the box that the forward fired into an empty net at the 32:53 mark for his fourth goal of the year.
The Paladins put the match away with a pair of second half goals. The first came at 69:48 when Agyaakwah served a long ball down the left channel to Wamu Snell, who centered a pass to freshman Wesley Siegel for the tap-in. In the 78th minute, Diego Hernandez found Christian Kraus for a finish in the box for his fourth score of the season at 77:21 to up the Furman cushion to 4-1.
“It’s great to get three points tonight and great to be back on Seagraves Field after five straight away games,” said Paladin head coach Doug Allison, who saw his team play at home for the first time since Sept. 8. “I’m happy to see four different players score goals for us tonight and glad to have so many alumni back supporting the program on homecoming weekend.”
Furman compiled a 34-9 margin in total shots and equaled its highest single-game shots total since 2021. The Paladins finished with an 18-3 advantage in shots on goal.
Salinas made two saves to earn his sixth victory in goal, while Murphy stopped 14 shots in a losing effort for VMI.
The Paladins continue their homestand on Tuesday night when they host instate rival Wofford in a match that was postponed earlier this month due to Hurricane Helene. Kickoff is 6 p.m.
Three Bulldogs finished with double-doubles on Saturday afternoon as The Citadel registered a 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 18-25, 23-25) victory over the Paladins in conference volleyball at McAlister Field House.
Furman drops to 7-9 overall and 1-4 in the SoCon. With the win, The Citadel improves to 10-9 and 4-4.
Chandler Parker and Ashley Stein both led the Paladins offensively with career highs of 19 kills. Stein turned in her second double-double this year, adding 12 digs. Quinn Morrissey recorded her fourth double-double of the season, and second this weekend, after dishing out a career-best 50 assists to go with 12 digs. Kennedy Seekford had a team-high 21 digs while Hayley Dionis and Ava Augustson both contributed 10.
Belle Hogan, Mackenzie Martin and Ali Ruffin all posted double-doubles for the Bulldogs.
The Paladins return to Alley Gymnasium next weekend, Oct. 24-25, to host UNC Greensboro and East Tennessee State.
Mary Emily Morgan had a match high 12 kills on Friday evening to propel the Wofford Terriers to a 3-0 (17-25, 14-25, 23-25) victory over the Paladins at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium.
Chandler Parker led the Paladin offense for the third consecutive match with 10 kills on .241 hitting. Quinn Morrissey compiled her third double-double of the year on 22 assists and 11 digs. Kennedy Seekford led the team with 15 digs while Ava Augustson contributed 12 and Ashley Stein 10.
Morgan’s 12 kills led all players for the Terriers with Sarah MacLean and Bri Mahoney both finishing with eight.
Furman volleyball has rescheduled its match versus Chattanooga, which was previously postponed due to the effects of Hurricane Helene in the Greenville area.
The Paladins will host the Mocs on Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 6 p.m.
The Furman men’s cross country team placed 13th while the 14th-ranked Paladins women’s team took 14th at the Wisconsin Pre-Nationals at Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course in Madison, Wis.
The unranked Paladin men took down eight ranked teams at the race, including No. 13 Washington, 14th-ranked Michigan and No. 15 Eastern Kentucky. No. 3 Arkansas won the race with 89 points, followed by fourth-ranked Iowa State in second with 128. No. 9 Stanford finished third with 142 points. Furman scored 418 points for 13th place.
Senior Carson Williams paced the Paladins with a time of 23:07.8 to take 13th on the eight-kilometer course. Senior Dylan Schubert crossed the line in 23:25.3 for 40th place, while junior Chris Knight posted a time of 23:43.9 for 80th place.
On the women’s side, the 14th-ranked Paladins scored 420 points for 14th place in the loaded field. No. 2 BYU won the title with 105 points, while third-ranked Washington finished second with 157. Top-ranked Northern Arizona claimed third place with 166 points.
Sophomore Carly Wilkes led Furman in the 6K race, posting a time of 19:56.7 to take 22nd place. Senior Kaylie Armitage placed 67th with a time of 20:23.1, and junior Jenna Mulhern was 78th at 20:28.5.
Four members of the Furman men’s team competed at the USC Upstate Invite Saturday at the Roger Milliken Center in Spartanburg. Senior Foster Wilfong led the team with an 8K time of 24:36.1 to take eighth place, while junior Colton Kempney posted a time of 24:45.5 for 12th.
The Paladins will defend their Southern Conference titles at the SoCon championship on Nov. 2 in Greenville.
Women’s tennis team concluded play Friday at the ITA Carolinas Regional Championships at the Chewning Tennis Center in Chapel Hill, N.C. The tournament showcased the top women’s tennis players from the states of North Carolina and South Carolina.
Seniors Jess Dawson and Marissa Pennings each won their opening match in the qualifying singles draw. Dawson defeated Olwyn Ryan-Bovey of Appalachian State, 7-6(3), 6-2, while Pennings held off N.C. State’s Valeria San Miguel Soria, 6-3, 7-5.
In doubles action, Paladin senior Ellie Schulson teamed up with sophomore Macy Hitchcock for an 8-4 victory over Heidi Bulger and Mariana Reding of Elon in the opening round of the main draw.
Furman will compete at the UNF Fall Invite, Nov. 1-3, in Jacksonville, Fla.
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