SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Wofford senior Taylor Baird became the 11th Terrier in program history to eclipse 1,000 career kills Wednesday night at Benjamin Johnson Arena. Unfortunately, it came in the volleyball team's first loss of the SoCon season, falling to Furman in three (23-25, 16-25, 23-25).
 
Baird needed six kills heading into the match and finished the evening with seven. Her 1,000th kill came midway through the third set and the 1,001st followed three points later, moving her into a tie for 10th in the career record books with Courtney Howe (1993-96).
 
The milestone helped push the Terriers (8-10, 1-1 SoCon) to eventually tie the third at 22, before the Paladins (10-4, 3-0 SoCon) spoiled the party with a sweep.
 
When all was said and done, Furman's attack and block were simply too much. The Paladins came into the matchup leading the Southern Conference in hitting at .219, and bested their average by 100 points, hitting .319 with 43 kills. Wofford had more total kills (46), but it came on 116 attempts with 24 attack errors, burying the Terrier attack to .190.
 
On the block, Furman registered 13 to Wofford's seven. It marked the sixth time this season the Terriers were blocked 10-plus times.
 
Freshmen Bella Santoro and Danni Densford led Wofford's offense. Santoro put down a team-high 14 kills to hit .200, while Densford hit .400 with 10 kills. Another freshman, Molly Mayo, tallied a match-high 37 assists and junior Jessica Graham earned the match-high in digs with 11.
 
Furman's Andrea Fisher and Ashton Gregory combined for 26 of the visitor's 43 kills. Fisher hit a blistering .438 with a match-high 15 slams and Gregory – the reigning SoCon Offensive Player of the Week – posted 11 kills at a .316 clip with a match-high nine blocks.
 
Despite the discrepancy in hitting and on the block, the Terriers had their chances. Wofford led the opener 20-18 off Baird's third kill of the set, but was outscored 7-3 the rest of the way. The Paladins tied the set up at 20 on a kill by Fisher and made it three straight points to take a 21-20 lead when an attack by Alex Holland found the net. Wofford never regained the lead and a block by setter Jo Wilks and Taina Joseph won Furman the first.
 
The second was completely one-sided. Furman had its worst attacking set of the night at .214, but Wofford hit just .030. The Paladins raced out to a 7-3 start and never trailed the rest of the set. Wofford got within two points on two occations at 12-10 and 13-11, but a 5-1 run put Furman ahead by six and the Paladins ended the set with 12 of the final 17 rallies.
 
Wofford came back ready in the third. The set began 10-10 with no team leading by more than two, until Furman scored four straight. Fisher capped the 4-0 run with back-to-back kills, but Wofford wasn't done. Baird's 1,000th kill gave the Terriers new life and they chipped away to tie the set at 22. Furman called time and it worked, killing the home side's momentum as two attack errors gave Furman a chance at the set and Fisher closed it out.
 
The Wofford volleyball team heads to Macon, Ga., for the first time since 2002 on Saturday, continuing Southern Conference play with its first-ever league matchup against Mercer. Match time is set for 3 p.m.