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SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Committing 18 service errors and 25 attack errors in four sets, the Wofford volleyball team fell to Georgia State, 3-1 (25-20, 17-25, 25-22, 25-18), Saturday at the Hampton Inn & Suites Spartan Classic inside the G.B. Hodge Center.
Wofford (1-4) looked like a much different team from Friday when it hit .248 to beat USC Upstate. Saturday, the Terriers managed just .131 (43-25-137) for the match and never really got it going against Georgia State (3-3), which came back from two sets down to defeat the Spartans in the morning session. The Panthers did not hit all that well at .175 (43-22-120), but, rather, let Wofford beat itself for the win.
"We struggled out there," Wofford head coach Ron Sweet said. "My biggest problem is that this is supposed to be an ongoing process where we struggle in the beginning, but get better every match. Instead, we took a major step backward. Missing 18 serves in a match is really just a lack of mental focus. The learning curve goes up and down and, unfortunately, today was a huge spike downward; however, this group is learning what I think is a winning mentality, and if we take a little bit from every loss then we'll be in good shape."
Two bright spots for the Terriers were Jessica Graham and Wendy Burnett. Graham went for 16 digs and had six assists. Burnett hit .409 with 12 kills and just three errors. Unfortunately, the hot hand only got 22 attempts and was not as much of an impact as she could have been.
"That comes down to our service and passing," commented Sweet. "If we can't get the ball to the net, we can't run our middles. Instead, we had to go outside a lot and were not very successful."
After the match, Burnett was named to the Spartan Classic All-Tournament Team, along with senior outside hitter Amanda Liguori. Liguori got the majority of the attempts on the outside but hit -.042 (10-12-48) after having 16 kills and hitting .314 on Friday. Junior Taylor Baird got 40 attempts on the right side, hitting .225 (12-3-40), and freshman Ellie Tallman hit .062 (6-5-15).
"Our outsides struggled today," added Sweet. "Ellie starting on the outside is a lot of pressure to put on a freshman. I thought she handled it well, but needs to learn how to hit around blocks and snap on the ball a little better. She's consistently hitting the ball a foot out of bounds, which is a very minor adjustment. Once she corrects that you'll see her hitting percentage climb very quickly."
The poor day on the attack started in the opening set, where Wofford managed to outhit the Panthers .176 to .161, but committed six service errors. Those mistakes allowed Georgia State to get away with only 11 kills in the set on its way to a five-point win.
The second set saw GSU hit at a much more impressive .333 (13-5-24), while the Terriers dropped to .148 (9-5-27). The Panthers won the first five points of the set and never trailed, scoring five of the final seven points to take a 2-0 lead at the intermission.
Coach Sweet went for a different look in the third set, starting freshman Moorea Dippel and senior Tara Gough. Dippel got five digs in her first collegiate set and Burnett went for six kills on nine attempts to keep Wofford competitive. With the score tied 20-all, it was Wofford who took five of the last seven points this time for a set victory.
"I thought Moo [Dippel] did a fantastic job," Sweet said. "We had to get her to relax a little bit and play. As soon as she relaxed, I thought she played extremely well. She earned herself more playing time."
It was not enough to carry the Terriers. Georgia State jumped out to an early 7-1 lead in the fourth set and led by as many as ten before clinching the match, 25-18.
The Wofford volleyball team will complete its tour of Spartanburg on Tuesday when it plays at Converse College. Match time is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Terrier Notes
- Bekah Dorsey squeaked out her 34th career double-double with 29 assists and 10 digs.
- Wendy Burnett and Amanda Liguori were named to the Hampton Inn & Suites Spartan Classic All-Tournament Team.
- Freshman Moorea Dippel made her collegiate debut.
- Wofford falls to 0-2 lifetime against Georgia State. The only prior meeting came in 1996.
- Wendy Burnett leads Wofford this season with a .410 hitting percentage (53-12-100).
