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SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford College volleyball team opened Southern Conference play with its first home match of the 2013 season Friday evening inside Benjamin Johnson Arena, dropping a close contest to Samford, 3-1 (23-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-21).
 
Samford (10-6, 1-0 SoCon) did the most damage on the block, where it bested Wofford (5-10, 0-1 SoCon) 10-2 on the night. The Bulldogs also had a 57-45 advantage in kills, outhitting the Terriers .267 to .200, and held a 57-47 edge in digs. In the serve game, Wofford put down seven aces to Samford's five, but were bitten by 14 errors to only nine for the Bulldogs.
 
To Wofford's credit, it battled closely with the Bulldogs the majority of the night. The Terriers took a nine-point lead in the opening set and never surrendered the lead for an early 1-0 advantage, and were 20-20 with the Bulldogs in a crucial third set before dropping five of the last six points. Even in the fourth and final set with Samford holding a seemingly insurmountable 20-10 lead, the Terriers fought hard to get back within three points at 24-21 before a service error ended the night.
 
"We fought extremely hard and followed the game plan really well," said Wofford head coach Ron Sweet, making his Benjamin Johnson Arena debut Friday night. "We are struggling with some injuries and lineup issues that we will figure out quickly. I was proud of the girls tonight even though the result didn't wind up in our favor."
 
Sophomore Liz Buterbaugh had a career night, putting down a collegiate-high 10 kills and hitting .364 (10-2-22) to lead the Wofford attack. Senior Amanda Liguori finished with a match-high 15 kills, hitting .157 (15-7-51), and junior Taylor Baird had 11 kills while hitting at a .200 clip (11-6-25).
 
On defense, sophomore Jessica Graham dug out a team-high 16 Samford attacks and freshman Ellie Tallman was part of both Terrier blocks.
 
For Samford, Michaela Reesor, Katie Murphy and Erin Bognar all went for 10-plus kills. Reesor had a team-high 14, Murphy tagged 13 with a .400 hitting percentage (13-3-25) and Bognar finished with 11 kills and 11 digs to post the lone double-double of the match.
 
Chelsi Carter had a match-high 24 digs and Taylor Palmer had the biggest effect on the block, completing the night with five.
 
The Terriers came out hot in their home opener with a nice crowd on hand at Benjamin Johnson Arena. Samford took the first point of the match, but the Terreirs took 13 of the next 16 for a commanding 13-4 opening-set lead. The Bulldogs climbed back in the set and tied it at 15, 16 and 17, but Wofford gave itself some breathing room by taking the next four points for a 21-17 edge, going on to win the set by four on a Liguori kill.
 
Wofford played from behind the whole way in set two. Samford took four of the first five points for an early lead, but the Terriers hung around and were within two at 13-11. That's when the Bulldogs went on a run, scoring eight of the following 10 points to lead 21-14 and going on to win the second set by seven.
 
A back-and-forth third set saw eight ties and four lead changes. The score differential stayed within two through the first half until Wofford made the first move, scoring three straight points for a 16-13 lead. The Terriers extended the lead to as many as four and an Erin Bognar service error forced a Samford timeout with Wofford ahead 19-16. Unfortunately, the Terriers surrendered that lead and would only score two more points in the set.
 
The grueling third set appeared to deflate the home side and Samford jumped all over it in the fourth. The Bulldogs scored the first four points and 10 of the first 13 for a 10-3 advantage. The lead got as large as 10 at 20-10, but Wofford hung in the set and went on a run to put a scare into the Bulldogs. Ellie Tallman served five straight points, putting down two aces, to make the score 21-16, and a Samford serve error got the Terriers back within five at 24-19. Facing set and match point, Wofford got a kill from Liguori and a Bulldog attack error to close the deficit to just three, before Graham's serve went out of bounds and Samford took the win.
 
The Wofford volleyball team plays home again on Saturday, hosting Chattanooga in Southern Conference action at 6 p.m., inside Benjamin Johnson Arena.
 
Terrier Notes
            - Sophomore Liz Buterbaugh had a career-high 10 kills.
            - Freshman Ellie Tallman earned her first career start.
            - Head Coach Ron Sweet coached his first ever match inside Benjamin Johnson Arena.
            - Samford improved to 6-0 all-time versus Wofford.