Box Score Box Score (pdf)
 
TUCSON, Ariz. – The Wofford College volleyball team kicked off the Wildcat Classic Friday afternoon from the University of Arizona's McKale Center, dropping its first ever meeting against the University of California, Santa Barbara, 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-20).
 
Wofford (5-7) did not have its best night on offense and was outhit .271 (36-13-85) to .110 (31-20-100) by UCSB (3-6), The Terriers added 15 serve errors, helping the Gauchos – a team which took a set earlier in the year from No. 1 USC and has faced three nationally ranked opponents – escape close second and third sets. UC Santa Barbara won the battle on defense as well with 40 digs to Wofford's 34 and seven team blocks to four for the Terriers.

"We missed a lot of crucial serves," Wofford head coach Ron Sweet said. "We need to start playing more aggressively. There are still some mindset problems and I know we are better than this."
 
For the second time this season, no Terrier reached 10 kills. Senior Amanda Liguori put down the most with nine, hitting .161 (9-4-31), also adding a match-high 11 digs on defense. Sophomore Liz Buterbaugh had the best night on the attack, hitting .500 with eight kills and a single error on 14 attempts. Buterbaugh's eight kills tied her career high which she set in the season opener versus Iowa.
 
Sophomore libero Jessica Graham was limited to less than 10 digs for only the second time on the 2013 campaign. Graham finished with nine against the Gauchos along with one service ace.
 
For the Gauchos, Ali Spindt had a match-high 12 kills, hitting .556 with only two errors on 18 total attempts. Allie Sullberg was a key part on offense hitting .545 (6-0-11) and Leah Sully was the defensive threat with 10 digs and three total blocks.
 
A first set tied 4-4 turned in favor of UCSB when the Gauchos went on a 6-0 run that included five attack errors by the Terriers. Wofford fought to get within three at 17-14, but Santa Barbara took eight of the set's final 11 points, capped by one of Katey Thompson's six kills.
 
The second set was the most competitive of the match. With the score 4-4, this time around it was Wofford that went on a run, using kills by Wendy Burnett, Liguori and Buterbaugh to score eight of 11 points and take a 12-7 lead. UCSB came storming back and went on a 5-0 run to take an 18-16 advantage, leading the rest of the way to take a two-set lead into the intermission.
 
Wofford trailed the whole way in set three, but kept it close throughout. UCSB led 7-5 and the two sides split the next 28 points to make it 21-19 in favor of the Gauchos. Unfortunately, the Terriers managed just one point the rest of the way and UCSB walked away with the three-set victory.
 
The Wofford volleyball team has two matches remaining in Tucson, both of which come Saturday against host Arizona and the University of Loyola Maryland. The Terriers square off with the Wildcats at 1:30 p.m., ET, and close out the west coast trip against the Greyhounds at 7:30 p.m. ET. Live video and live stats will be provided for all matches of the Wildcat Classic courtesy of ArizonaWildcats.com and Pac-12.com.
 
Terrier Notes
            - The matchup was the first ever in volleyball between Wofford and UCSB.
            - Saturday's matches versus Arizona and Loyola Maryland will also be Wofford's first.
            - Sophomore Liz Buterbaugh had eight kills to tie her career high.