Box Score Box score
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Despite a career-high kill performance from Amanda Liguori, the Wofford volleyball team dropped a 3-1 (25-17, 25-17, 11-25, 25-20) decision to The Citadel Saturday afternoon in a Southern Conference match in the McAlister FieldHouse.
Wofford opened the match with a 6-2 run, but The Citadel cut the lead to 7-6 before a Wendy Burnett kill ended the Bulldog run. The Bulldogs took an 11-10 lead, on two kills and a Terrier attack error, but Wofford evened the set at 11 on an Arden Anderson kill. The Terriers took a 14-12 lead, only to see the Bulldogs tie the set again, this time at 14. The two teams traded points before, The Citadel pulled ahead 18-15 en route to a 25-17 set one win.
In the second set, the Bulldogs opened the set with a 4-0 run before an Amanda Liguori kill got the Terriers on the scoreboard. Wofford used a Bulldog attack error and Terrier kill pulled Wofford within one, 4-3. Wofford tied the set at six, on a Burnett solo block and took a 7-6 lead on a Bulldog attack error. With the score tied at ten, The Bulldogs broke ahead 15-10 on a Wofford net call, a Terrier attack error, a ball handling error, and a Bulldog ace. A Bulldog kill pushed the lead to 15-10, but a Rachel Woodlee kill sparked a Wofford run that would cut the lead to 16-13. The Citadel took a five-point lead, 18-13, as they went on to claim the set 25-17.
Anderson and Taylor Baird had two blocks for Wofford in a 4-0 run to open the third set and went ahead 7-2 before The Citadel was forced to a call a timeout. Following the timeout, Wofford opened up the lead to 12-3 highlight by a Baird and Burnett block, but The Citadel rallied back to cut the lead to six, 12-6. Wofford won a long rally, and then used a Liguori kill and block to regain a seven-point lead, 15-6. The lead hit ten points, 17-7, as Wofford controlled the set with a 25-11 win.
Neither team could pull ahead in the fourth set, until Wofford took a 6-4 on a Liguori kill and extended the lead to 8-5 on a Bekah Dorsey and Burnett block. The Citadel rallied to cut the lead to 8-7 on a kill and block, but an attack error and Anderson kill extended the Terrier lead to 10-7. The Bulldogs again mounted a run 3-0 run to tie the set at ten on a kill. With the set knotted at 11, back-to-back Baird kills gave Wofford a two-point lead, 13-11, but the Bulldogs tied the set on a Terrier attack error and Bulldog service ace. The two teams traded points, before The Citadel put together a 3-0 run to take a 17-14 lead. Following a Terrier timeout kills by Baird and Burnett pulled Wofford within on, 17-16, but a Bulldog kill, block and a Terrier attack error, gave The Citadel a 20-16 lead. Trailing 23-18, Wofford picked up a kill by Woodlee and solo block by Anderson to cut the lead to 23-20, but the Bulldogs responded with a kill and won the set on Terrier illegal attack to hold on and claim the set, 25-20, and the match.
Wofford outhit the Bulldogs .213 to .162. They also held a 51-43 kills advantage, won the battle at the net 10-7, but had 14 serivce errors and two aces compared to seven aces and two errors for The Citadel.
Amanda Liguori set a new career-high with 18 kills in the match. She also had a team-high .308 hitting percentage. Reagan Styles picked up 20 digs, while Dorsey handed out 41 assists. Anderson paced the Terriers with five total blocks, one solo and four block assists, while Burnett trailed with four total blocks, one solo and three block assists.
With her 20 digs, Styles is now sixth all-time on the career dig list and just 45 digs from moving into fifth place.
It was the first loss to The Citadel since 2007 when the Terriers dropped a 3-2 match on November 10 to the Bulldogs.
Wofford falls to 13-17 overall and 2-11 in the Southern Conference with the loss Saturday.
Wofford will play their final road contest of the season at the College of Charleston Sunday at 2 p.m. The Terriers fell to the Cougars in the first meeting between the two teams this season, 3-0.
