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GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Wofford volleyball team saw its three-match Southern Conference winning streak come to an end Wednesday night inside Alley Gym as the Furman Paladins earned a 3-0 sweep (25-17, 25-16, 25-22).
Wofford (8-13, 3-4 SoCon) trailed most of the way through each set after taking Furman (10-8, 6-1 SoCon) to five sets just two weeks prior in Spartanburg. After dropping the first two, the Terriers trailed 20-10 in set three and nearly came all the way back to tie the set before Ashton Gregory put down the final kill for the sweep.
Furman outhit Wofford .300 (38-8-100) to .178 (40-19-118) for the match, earning seven blocks to Wofford's three and winning the battle of aces, 4-2.
Junior Taylor Baird led the way for Wofford, finishing with a team-high 13 kills and hitting .367 (13-2-30) with four digs. Senior Amanda Liguori and sophomore Jessica Graham each had a team-high 14 digs, while Dorsey assisted a match-high 36 of Wofford's 40 kills.
For Furman, Gregory hit. 700 with a match-high 14 kills on 20 swings, committing zero errors. Elle Ross went for a match-high 18 digs and Jo Wilks quarterbacked the Paladins with 34 assists. Christina Dorismond made her presence felt with seven kills on 15 attempts, also without committing an error, and Annie Bierman had eight kills on 23 swings with two errors.
The Paladins were on fire to start the match. Wilks served the first five points for an early 5-0 Furman lead, and Wofford was forced into its first timeout after back-to-back kills made the score 13-5. The Terriers got the deficit back to five at 17-12, but Furman came back to score five of the next six for a commanding 22-13 advantage. Baird – the reigning SoCon Offensive Player of the Week – finished the set with seven kills and zero errors, while Wofford had 16 team kills to Furman's 10. Nine Wofford attack errors to none for Furman wound up making the difference as the Paladins took the opener by eight.
Wofford turned the tables to start the second set, taking five of the first six points to jump out to a 5-1 lead. Furman responded, knocking down the next seven points with Andrea Fisher serving to get right back in front, 8-5, and forcing Coach Sweet to use his first timeout of the set. The timeout didn't stop the Paladins as they scored the next three points and rolled the rest of the way. Wofford only ever got back within five at 18-13 until Furman scored seven of the final 10 points for a nine-point victory.
At the break, Furman was outhitting Wofford .306 (23-4-62) to .154 (26-14-78). Baird had just two kills in the second set after her seven-kill first to lead the Terriers with nine and a .381 attack percentage.
The third set looked like a blowout, but the Terriers hung tough and nearly pulled off a huge comeback. It was close early on with two ties and a lead change until Furman established the first significant lead of the set at 10-7. The Paladins put together another huge run, winning 10 of the next 13 points for a seemingly insurmountable 20-10 cushion. To Wofford's credit, it chipped away at the lead and stayed in the set, using a 5-0 run to get back to 23-19. Furman grabbed the next point and gave itself five opportunities to win the match, needing most of them as three straight points got the Terriers all the way back within two at 24-22. Ashton Gregory put an end to any hope of a comeback, getting an easy set from Wilks and knocking down the final kill from right in front of the net.
The Wofford volleyball team returns to action at home this Saturday, taking on Davidson inside Benjamin Johnson Arena. Start time is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Terrier Notes
- Wofford's three-match winning streak was snapped.
- The win earns Furman a sweep of the season series. Wofford now trails the all-time series 36-5.
- The loss was Wofford's first on the road since Sept. 21 at Arizona.
