Box Score Box score

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. -- The Wofford College women’s volleyball team started off the Runnin’ Bulldog Classic Tournament with a five set loss, 3-2 (25-22, 16-25, 17-25, 25-20, 15-7), to host Gardner-Webb University on Friday night.

Senior Stacy Byrd, broke the 1,000th career kill barrier with her third kill in the kill in the match.

Wofford (6-4) took an early 3-0 lead in set one on kills from seniors Catelyn Amende and  Byrd, but GWU responded with their on three-point run to tie the match.  However, two unforced Gardner-Webb errors, an Amende kill and a Byrd service ace gave the Terriers a 7-3.  Wofford held the lead, until the GWU forced a tie at 15.  The two squads traded the lead until Wofford broke a 19-19 tie with a 6-3 run to close out the set, 25-22.  Wofford used three kills and three attack errors from Gardner-Webb in the final points.  Amende finished the match with ten kills, five of which came in first set.

Set two saw Gardner-Webb jump out to a 10-3 lead and push their lead to as high as eight points, 18-11.  The Runnin’ Bulldogs took set two by nine points, 25-16, which was the largest lead of either team during the match.  Gardner-Webb outhit Wofford .244 to .029 in the second set.  

Neither team could pull ahead to start set three until Gardner-Webb broke a 7-7 tie with a 4-0 run, before an Amende kill ended the run and made it 11-8.  Wofford battled back and tied the match at 16 with back-to-back-to-back kills by Wendy Burnett, Byrd and Bekah Dorsey.  However, the Terriers dropped the third set 25-17 as GWU ended the set with a 9-1 run.  For the second consecutive set, the Runnin’ Bulldogs sported a better hitting percentage than the Terriers, .303-.029.

Wofford took an early lead in set four only to see Gardner-Webb tie the match at eight.  Two Amanda Liguori and Byrd kills with two unforced GWU errors gave the Terriers a 14-11 lead.  Wofford couldn’t pull away in the set as Gardner-Webb would tie it twice before a Byrd kill sparked a 5-0 Terrier run to win the set 25-20.  Byrd had her best output in the fourth set with four kills.

In the fifth and final set, Gardner-Webb won the sprint to eight, 8-4, and went on to win the set, 15-7, to seal the match win.  GWU hit .500 compared to the Terriers’ .091 hitting percentage in the fifth set.

Byrd led the Terriers with 12 kills, 14 digs and 14.5 points.  She added two service aces and a block assist in the match that saw her break the 1,000 career kill mark.  Amende also had 14.5 points with ten kills, a service ace and three total blocks, two block assists and two solo blocks.  Liguori was the only other Terrier with double-digit kills.  She had 11 kills to go along with 16 digs.  Reagan Styles paced Wofford with 22 digs, while Dorsey and Tara Gough handed out 16 assists apiece.

Wofford will play Weber State at 10 a.m. and Kennesaw State at 5 p.m. on day two of the Runnin’ Bulldog Classic Saturday.