By MONTE DUTTON

Clay Hendrix keeps his head up. Furman football, after consecutive 10-3 records, is in danger of having its worst season in 52 years.
The Paladins’ precipitous slump is rooted in inexperience and injuries, which have ravaged the defense, in particular. Hendrix knew he and his staff had lots of work to do. They didn’t expect to lose 18 players and endure 15 surgeries.
Furman’s remaining games are on the road, where they face East Tennessee State (6-4, 4-2 SoCon) on Saturday at noon and Mercer (9-1, 6-1) the following week.
The season has been disconcerting, but Hendrix insists the players aren’t themselves disconcerted.

Given the circumstances, Hendrix said Monday, “Our kids’ attitude has been phenomenal. We’ve got to fix things when they hurt themselves, and they’ve got to do what they’re supposed to do.”
Hendrix is by nature leery of quick fixes and doesn’t think they are possible at Furman, where graduate transfers like Tyler Huff and Mason Pline have contributed mightily.
“I’ve been on some teams that didn’t have very good years before,” he said. “I’ve been doing this 39 years.
“In the world now in football, we’re just sticking together and staying the course. We’ve got a bunch of kids [who] are committed to coming back.”

Tre Lamb, the first-year ETSU head coach, is the nephew of former Furman head coach Bobby Lamb, now at Anderson. Hendrix and Bobby Lamb grew up across the street from each other in Commerce, Ga., where they played high-school ball together there and then at Furman.
“[ETSU] has been heavy in the portal,” Hendrix said. “I don’t think that could ever happen here, just from an admissions standpoint. We don’t get a lot out of it.

“We’re a little different in that regard. … We’ve been successful the last few years because of our retention, our development program and having guys who were committed to staying here and building, building, building. I would love to plug guys in here and there (from the transfer portal), but the pool is so small for us, and kids have lots of options. … I’m going to look into that. We don’t have a lot of spots available based on who’s returning, but two weeks from now, I don’t know. I think I have a pretty good bead on that. … We have a lot of guys with a really bright future.”

The situation is dire right now. It’s going to get better. In 2021, Furman followed up a rough COVID spring season (3-4) with a 6-5 fall and consecutive 10-win seasons.
The Paladins (2-7, 1-4) will be back, not by reconstruction but by development.

Ava Augustson led all players with 15 kills, while Ashley Stein poured in 11, to lead the Furman volleyball team to its fourth consecutive win Friday evening with a 3-0 sweep (25-19, 25-20, 25-18) of the Samford Bulldogs in Southern Conference action at Alley Gymnasium.

The Paladins’ four-match winning streak was the longest of the season. Samford falls to 13-10 and 7-6.
Augustson hit .406 overall while adding eight digs and helped pace a Furman offense that saw it post a .300 hitting percentage or better for the fifth time this season, finishing with a .318 clip.
Stein contributed eight digs after hitting .296 for the match. Tennyson Gorman compiled eight kills on .667 hitting. Emily Navarro had 19 assists and eight digs, and Quinn Morrissey dished out 12 assists. Kennedy Seekford had a match high 18 digs.

Gracie Lynn Butler led the Bulldogs offensively with 11 kills while Lexi Thatcher tallied a double-double of 28 assists and 10 digs. Kate Morgan led the team with 12 digs.
dmission to all Paladin home matches this season is free of charge with first-come, first-serve seating.

The streak came to an end on Tuesday evening.
Chard’e Vanzandt led three Mocs in double-figure kills Tuesday evening to lift Chattanooga to a 3-1 (23-25, 21-25, 25-16, 15-25) victory at Alley Gymnasium.
Furman drops to 12-12, 6-7 in the SoCon. Chattanooga is 16-13 and 6-8.

Chandler Parker became the first Paladin to reach 20 or more kills in a match this season after leading Furman with a match-high 23 on .327 hitting. Ava Augustson poured in her fifth double-double of the season with 15 kills and 14 digs.
Vanzandt paced the Mocs offensively with 18 kills. Sydney Jackwin (16 kills, 14 digs) and Elaine Redman (46 assists, 22 digs) both had double-doubles. Paige Gallentine finished with a match-high 23 digs.
Furman closes out its regular season schedule this weekend, hosting The Citadel and Wofford at Alley Gymnasium.
PJay Smith Jr. is SoCon Men’s Basketball Player of the Week after leading the Paladins to a dramatic victory over Belmont this past weekend.

Playing less than 15 miles from his hometown of LaVergne, Tenn., Smith totaled 21 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals in his season debut after missing the season opener due to injury. The senior scored Furman’s final five points, including a game-winning three from the top of the key with 2.3 seconds remaining to secure the 76-74 win over the Bruins.
Smith, a business administration major who is in his second year with the Paladins after transferring from Lee University, averaged 10 points per game last season. He added 3.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists a year ago while shooting .373 from three-point range.

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