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SPARTANBURG, S.C. – It can only be described as heartbreak.

Down two sets to the Chattanooga Mocs Saturday night at Benjamin Johnson Arena and facing match point in the third, the Wofford volleyball team put together a ferocious comeback. The Terriers rallied for three straight points to win set three, ran away with the fourth and served for the match at 14-13 in the fifth.

Then, it all came crashing down as the Mocs took the final three points and left the Terriers heartbroken, 3-2 (26-24, 25-20, 24-26, 16-25, 16-14).

"This was a very intense match," Wofford head coach Ron Sweet said. "We really need to work on our mental game. There were a few individuals that played great, but only in certain sets. Our passes were off, and we'll get back to work on Monday."

Chattanooga (2-15, 1-1 SoCon) earned its second win of the year – the other coming last weekend over Southern Miss. Wofford falls to 5-11, 0-2 SoCon, and now trails UTC 23-4 in the all-time series, including 7-1 in five-set matches.

The serve game both helped and hurt the Terriers. Ten aces kept Wofford in sets and ignited the comeback, but 14 serving errors ultimately bit the Terriers. UTC had just four errors on serve and four aces. For the match, UTC outhit Wofford .186 (49-18-167) to .177 (73-38-198) and beat the Terriers on the block, 12-8.

Aside from the result of the match, two Terriers walked away with great personal achievements.

Junior Taylor Baird accomplished something no Terrier has done in nearly 10 years. The right-side hitter put up a match-high 30 points – the first to do so since Andrea Duke had 30.5 on Oct. 24, 2004 against East Tennessee State University – via a match-high 26 kills, three service aces and two block assists. Baird hit .298 on the evening (26-9-57) and her 26 kills are the most since Stacy Byrd posted the same amount on Oct. 17, 2009 versus Appalachian State.

Baird was not the only Terrier to put up big numbers. Sophomore libero Jessica Graham went for a career-high 32 digs, which are the most since Brittany Thompson set the Wofford record with 44 against Elon on Nov. 8, 2008. Saturday's match also marks the fifth time Graham has gone for 20 or more digs this season.

To go along with the aforementioned stats, seniors Amanda Liguori and Bekah Dorsey each posted a double-double. Liguori had 21 kills – upping her career total to 1,065 and surpassing Shanna Hughes (1,046) for No. 8 all-time at Wofford – and 13 digs, while Dorsey had a season-high 56 assists to go with 14 digs. Dorsey's double-double was her team-leading sixth of the season and 36th of her career, while Liguori's was her fifth of the season and 26th of her collegiate career.

Senior Wendy Burnett posted 10 kills, hitting .217 (10-5-23), with two aces and two blocks.

However, as Coach Sweet referenced, those individual accomplishments were only done through certain sets. In the sets it won, Wofford hit .268 (20-9-41) and .342 (18-5-38). In the sets they lost, the Terriers only managed an attack percentage of .140 (15-8-50), .050 (11-9-40) and .069 (9-7-29) in the tiebreak.

Wofford held an early 9-3 lead in the opening set on Girl Scout Night at Benjamin Johnson Arena. Chattanooga chipped away and took its first lead of the set at 22-21. As was the theme of the night, Wofford jumped back ahead and served for the set at 24-23, but was unable to take any of the final three points to hand the Mocs the opener by two.

The missed opportunity didn't faze the Terriers and they came right back out in set two on point. With Wofford leading 11-9, UTC went on a 6-2 run to take a 15-13 lead. The Mocs extended the lead to four at 18-14 and traded points to get to 23-19. A Wofford attack error gave Chattanooga set point and another error two points later gave the Mocs a two-set lead at the break.

The Terriers got the match turned around in the third set, but it didn't come easily. A set that had 13 ties and six lead changes saw Chattanooga score six straight points with Allie Davenport serving to take a 14-9 lead and force Coach Sweet to call a timeout. The Terriers responded with a 9-3 run, courtesy of three consecutive serve aces from Baird, to grab the lead, 18-17. The set went back and forth through the later stages and UTC had set-and-match point at 24-23. The Terriers used another timeout and came out of it on fire, saving the match on a kill from Baird, taking a lead off a Liguori kill and winning on Baird's ninth kill of the set.

The fourth was tied 14-14 before the Terriers went on a huge run to easily win by nine. Back-to-back kills from Liguori forced Chattanooga to use a timeout. The Mocs took the first point off the stoppage, but Wofford remained focused and took four straight points for a five-point cushion. UTC got back within four at 20-16, but the Terriers rolled off the final five points to force the deciding set.

The fifth began completely in favor of Chattanooga, scoring the first five points to take a 5-0 advantage. Wofford chipped away and got the score to 8-4 at the changeover, before rolling off six of the next eight points to bring the set to its first tie at 10-10. A service ace by Elizabeth Ouzts gave Wofford its first lead of the fifth and the Terriers extended it to 13-11 on a UTC attack error.

After trailing by two sets and seemingly down and out, the Terriers were presented with set-and-match point at 14-13, but were denied as Lauren Gainer put down a kill to level the score. Gainer and Reid then went up to block a Baird attack and, with their second match point of the night, UTC got the win on a Baird attack error just over the end line.

The Wofford volleyball team will play its third consecutive home match on Wednesday, hosting Furman inside Benjamin Johnson Arena at 6 p.m.

Terrier Notes
- Taylor Baird's career-high 30 points and 26 kills each rank fourth all-time at Wofford for a single match.
- Baird's 30 points are the most by a Terrier since Andrea Duke had 30.5 on Oct. 24, 2004 vs. ETSU.
- Baird's 26 kills are the most by a Terrier since Stacy Byrd had 26 on Oct. 17, 2009 vs. Appalachian Sate.
- Jessica Graham's career-high 32 digs are the most in a match since Brittany Thompson set the Wofford record with 44 vs. Elon on Nov. 8, 2008.
- Amanda Liguori passed Shanna Hughes for No. 8 all-time in kills with 1,065. Hughes had 1,046.
- Chattanooga improves to 23-4 all-time versus Wofford and 7-1 in five-set matches.