Furman is currently enjoying one of the best fall athletic seasons in school history, as three teams entered November in sole possession of first place in the Southern Conference. As an example of the Paladins’ success this fall, Furman teams defeated big-name schools Clemson, Iowa and North Carolina in a four-day span in late October.

On the gridiron, the Paladin football team is still glowing after its 28-3 thrashing of North Carolina in Chapel Hill October 30. Entering November, Furman held a 5-0 league mark with key wins over ranked conference opponents Appalachian State and East Tennessee State. This is the first time since the 1989 season the Paladins have held sole possession of first place this late into the season. That year Furman posted a perfect 7-0 league mark, 12-2 overall record, and an NCAA I-AA semifinal finish. After the win over UNC, Furman was ranked seventh in the Sports Network Division I-AA poll and ninth in the USA Today’s ratings.

The men’s soccer team won its 14th Southern Conference title in the last 17 years with a perfect 8-0 regular-season record. Furman finished the regular season 15-1-1 and ranked sixth in the nation by Soccer America and seventh in the nation in the NSCAA poll. The ranking is the highest in Furman soccer history. Recently, the Paladins defeated Clemson 3-2 in a double overtime match. The Paladins have their sites set on not only an NCAA tournament bid, but a national championship.

The women’s soccer team finished the Southern Conference with a perfect 9-0 league mark. Earlier this season, Furman handed conference powerhouse UNC-Greensboro its first league loss in 19 matches. Furman finished the regular season with a 17-2 record and was ranked eighth in the Southeast Region poll. Furman defeated #23 Iowa 1-0 to close out the regular season. Brian Lee’s Lady Paladins have set school records for wins, shutouts, goals, assists and road wins this season. Sophomore Kaye Brownlee is leading the nation in assists per match after finishing her freshman year second in the nation.

The volleyball team rallied after a slow start to win nine out of 11 matches and improve its record to 15-12 (11-5 in the league, good for third place) through October. First-year coach Keylor Chan is using three freshmen in his starting rotation and hopes to push for the Southern Conference tournament title in mid-November.

The Furman cross country teams had great finishes in the conference meet. The women’s team finished second and was paced by former soccer player Jill Braley’s fifth-place finish. The men’s team finished third, its best all-time finish, and Gene Mullin was named Southern Conference coach of the year.