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SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Behind junior Taylor Baird's match-high 20 kills and freshman Ellie Tallman's 11, the Wofford volleyball team earned a crucial Southern Conference victory against Elon, 3-1 (25-22, 20-25, 25-23, 25-20), Friday night inside Benjamin Johnson Arena.
 
Baird hit .463 with just one error on 41 attempts and Tallman came in at .409, committing just a pair of errors on 22 attempts. Tallman's 11 kills marked a season-high for the freshman outside hitter.
 
"Taylor Baird and Ellie Tallman were phenomenal tonight," head coach Ron Sweet said. "I thought we followed our game plan extremely well, and let Ellie and Taylor take us the rest of the way. Bekah set a good match and Jessica was consistent again for us on defense."
 
Senior Amanda Liguori registered 15 kills, hitting .125, and had 14 digs for her 10th double-double of the season. Classmate Bekah Dorsey also had a double-double, earning 46 assists and 10 digs. Dorsey's double-double was her 11th of the season to lead all Terriers. Meanwhile, sophomore libero Jessica Graham totaled a match-high 25 digs and had a team-high two aces.
 
The victory moves Wofford (12-16, 6-7 SoCon) a big step toward clinching its first Southern Conference Tournament appearance since 2006. At the conclusion of Friday's league matches, the Terriers remain in eighth place, a game ahead of ninth-place Davidson (5-8), who the Terriers defeated earlier in the season and own the head-to-head tiebreak against. Chattanooga (3-9) is in 10th place, two and a half games behind Wofford. The Mocs were idle on Friday, but play both Saturday and Sunday.
 
More interestingly, Friday's results move the Terriers just one game back of a tie for fourth place. Appalachian State, UNCG and Elon are all 7-6 in conference play, while Western Carolina is in seventh place at 6-6.
 
Baird and Tallman got it going from the start, each putting down a set-high four kills to help the Terriers win the opener. It was a set of runs. Tied 8-8, Elon saw Ana Nicksic serve out a 5-0 run to force Wofford into its first timeout of the night. The Terriers responded, coming back with a 5-0 run of their own to level the score again at 13. Elon went back up by three at 17-14, and the Terriers responded again with four straight points to take an 18-17 lead. Tallman gave Wofford the lead for good, putting down her final two kills of the set in consecutive fashion for a 20-18 lead. The Phoenix got back within a point at 21-20, but never got the set back level as the Terriers took it by three.
 
The second went to Elon, beginning with the Phoenix scoring the first five points and never looking back. The Terriers never recovered and Elon led the entire set despite being outhit by Wofford .281 to .226. A big part of the victory was four service aces by the Phoenix.
 
The third saw Elon lead most of the way, but Wofford came back to grab a late lead and close out the set to go ahead in the match. The Phoenix took three separate three-point leads at 10-7, 14-11 and 18-15. With back-to-back kills by Ally Karle, the Phoenix grabbed their biggest lead of the set, up four at 20-16. A 6-1 Wofford run followed that saw kills by both Liguori and Baird, putting the Terriers ahead 22-21, their first lead since 2-1. The close third set came to a tie for the last time at 23-all, and Tallman slammed down a kill to give the Terriers set point. Elon called a timeout, but Cali Estes was whistled for a ball-handling error on the next play to put the Terriers back in front by a set.
 
Baird was unstoppable in the fourth, putting down six kills on 11 swings to boost Wofford to its sixth SoCon victory. The Terriers never trailed and opened the final set with a 5-2 run. Elon came back to tie the match at 11, but it was the last time the score would be tied. Back-to-back kills from Baird put the Terriers back ahead by three at 14-11, and two kills in consecutive fashion by Liguori later on gave Wofford its biggest lead of the set, 21-15. The Phoenix crept back within three, but Liguori and Baird put a stop to any comeback with two more kills, and Baird closed out the night with her 20th and final slam.
 
The Wofford volleyball team faces UNCG Saturday at 6 p.m. The Terriers will celebrate Senior Night for their graduating class of Wendy Burnett, Amanda Liguori, Tara Gough, Bekah Dorsey and Lucy Reser.
 
Terrier Notes
- Taylor Baird led the match with 20 kills, marking her 22nd double-figure-kill match of the season.
- Eliie Tallman had a season-high 11 kills, marking the first match of 10-plus kills in her career.
- Amanda Liguori had 15 kills and 14 digs, posting her 10th double-double of the season.
- Bekah Dorsey posted her 11th double-double of the season with 46 assists and 10 digs.
- Junior transfer Kaitlin Farrisi had a season-high 10 digs.
- Jessica Graham had a match-high 25 digs, marking her 26th match of 10 or more digs this season