Box Score Box Score (pdf)
 
ELON, N.C. – The Wofford volleyball team saw its record in five-set matches drop to 2-6, falling victim to Elon (25-18, 25-18, 29-31, 23-25, 15-12) Saturday night in Southern Conference action inside Alumni Gym.
 
Trailing by two sets and down 20-15 in the third, Wofford (9-15, 4-6 SoCon) rallied and fought off four match points to eventually win 31-29 and extend the match. The momentum carried into the fourth where the Terriers scored the first five points and broke a 23-all tie with the set's final two points to bring the match to a fifth.
 
In the tiebreak, Elon (15-11, 6-4 SoCon) jumped out to an 8-4 advantage, but the Terriers fought back again to get the deciding set to 13-12. The final two points went to the Phoenix on kills by Cali Estes and Megan Gravley, earning Elon its second consecutive five-set win after defeating league-leading Furman in five on Friday night.
 
Estes was big for Elon, posting her second triple-double in as many days with 13 kills, 22 assists and 12 digs. Gravley, Ally Karle and Kayla Agae also had double-figure kills for Elon, while Chanelle Smith, Morgan Maner and Maggie Reichard recorded double-figure digs.
 
For Wofford, junior Taylor Baird put down a match-high 16 kills, hitting .256 (16-6-39), adding an ace, five blocks and five digs for 19.5 points to lead all players. Sophomore Liz Buterbaugh had a career night, tallying collegiate highs of 13 kills and 15.5 points, also tying her career high of five blocks. On the ground, sophomore Jessica Graham dug out a match-high 23 attacks, while senior Amanda Liguori had 17 digs. Liguori also had nine kills, an ace and two blocks for 11 points. Senior Bekah Dorsey had a match-high 48 assists and seven digs.
 
On the night, Elon outhit Wofford .184 to .144, edging the Terriers in kills, 62-55. Wofford won the dig battle, 77-67, while the Phoenix had nine team blocks to Wofford's eight.
 
The Terriers came out with a solid .250 attack percentage in the first set, but Elon was unstoppable, hitting .520 with 16 kills to take the opener. Elon got the first advantage of the set at 13-9, but Wofford responded with the next four points to level the score at 13 and force Elon to use its first timeout. Out of the stoppage, the Phoenix went on a 4-0 run of their own, making Coach Sweet use his first timeout. Wofford could not respond with another run, and Estes scored each of Elon's final three points to lead the first set with five kills and award the home side a 1-0 match lead.
 
The second set saw Wofford play from behind most of the way. The only Terrier lead came at 8-7, and it was shortly lived as Elon scored six straight points to force a Wofford timeout ahead 13-8. The Terriers got back within four at 14-10, but it was as close as they would ever get. Two Wofford errors made it 16-10, and 14 total Terrier errors helped Elon take a 2-0 lead, winning its second straight 25-18 set.
 
The Terriers got it going in the third set. After having only three kills in the first two sets, Baird put down a set-high six kills and had five blocks to spark a Wofford comeback. With the score tied at 12, Elon tallied seven of the next nine points for a 19-14 advantage. After trading the next two, the Phoenix were five points from victory at 20-15, but Wofford went on to score the next six and completed a 9-1 run ahead 24-21 to earn three set points. Elon responded by saving all three to level the score at 24, and went on to earn four set-and-match points of its own, only to see the Terriers save the match each time. With the set tied 29 apiece, an Elon attack error gave Wofford another set point and Baird put it away with her sixth kill of the set.
 
Wofford rode the momentum into the fourth, scoring the first five points with the help of kills by Buterbaugh and Baird. The Terriers grabbed their biggest lead of the set at 12-6 and Elon called a timeout to regroup. The Phoenix stayed within striking distance and chipped away at the Terrier lead, eventually getting the set to its first tie at 19-19. The two sides traded points all the way to 23-all until Gravley's attack error gave Wofford set point and Baird put it away again to get Wofford level in the match and bring it to a fifth set.
 
The tiebreak saw Wofford go ahead 3-2 and Elon respond with five straight points for a 7-3 lead. At the changeover, a kill by Gravley had the home side ahead 8-4. That lead extended to five on Danielle Smith's seventh kill of the match. Back came the Terriers, scoring four of six points to cut the deficit to two at 10-8, and eventually getting within a point, 12-11, on Liguori's ace. Gravley and Baird traded kills to bring the match to 13-12, before Elon put the victory away with back-to-back kills by Estes and Gravley.
 
The Wofford volleyball team begins a five-match homestand on Wednesday with non-conference action against North Carolina A&T. First serve from Benjamin Johnson Arena is set for 6 p.m.
 
Terrier Notes
- Taylor Baird had a match-high 16 kills, recording her 18th double-figure kill match of the season to lead all Terriers.
- Liz Buterbaugh had a career-high 13 kills and 15.5 points. Her five blocks mark the third time this season she has had five or more.
- Jessica Graham had a match-high 23 digs, going over 10 for the 22nd time this season to lead all Terriers.
- Amanda Liguori had 17 digs, marking her 14th double-figure dig match of the season.
- Wofford has lost two straight matches for the first time since Oct. 2.
- Elon now leads the all-time series 18-4, extending its winning streak against the Terriers to 11.