SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford volleyball team honored the careers of seniors Taylor Baird and Kaitlin Farrisi Friday night at Benjamin Johnson Arena, but came up on the losing end to East Tennessee State in four sets (21-25, 25-23, 26-28, 19-25).
 
A pregame ceremony celebrated the careers of the two seniors. For Baird, it was her 124th appearance and 102nd start, having never missed a match in her four years as a Terrier. She made her final home game count, posting match-highs of 22 points and 18 kills, adding three aces and two blocks.
 
Farrisi made her first start of the season and had a special night. The native of Carlisle, Pa. tied a career-high with 10 digs and was one of five Terriers to reach double figures. It marked the first time five Terriers posted 10 or more digs since Oct. 19, 2012 in a five-set match at Elon.
 
Wofford (12-18, 4-9 SoCon) battled ETSU (14-15, 8-5 SoCon) close all night. In the end, a critical third set went the visitor's way and changed the momentum of the match.
 
Tied at a set apiece, the Terriers came out of the locker room on fire to go on top 12-4. The Buccaneers quickly chopped the lead in half and used a 10-3 run to get within a single point at 15-14. Wofford stopped the run and held on to the lead all the way until a Kristen Favre ace brought the set to its first tie at 23.
 
Three set points were presented to the Terriers the rest of the way, but they could not convert. ETSU's Bethany Gesell saved the last to tie the set at 26, before Meredith Hardy and Rylee Milhorn slammed back-to-back kills to power the Buccaneers to a 28-26 set victory.
 
It was a complete momentum shifter. ETSU grabbed control of the fourth with a 9-1 run that turned a 12-all tie into a 21-13 uphill climb. The Terriers got back to within five before Ivey Rice finished the match.
 
ETSU ended the night with a .196 to .144 advantage on the attack, a 9-8 edge in blocks and an 8-6 lead in aces. Wofford won every other category, including kills (56-50), assists (52-44), digs (75-59) and points (70-67).
 
Three Terriers posted double-figure kills. Behind Baird's 18 were freshmen Alex Holland and Bella Santoro with 15 and 11, respectively. Santoro completed her 11th double-double with 10 digs and freshman Molly Mayo earned her sixth with a match-high 46 assists and 12 digs. Junior libero Jessica Graham pulled in a team-high 19 digs and junior-transfer Katelynn Slade completed the quintet of Terriers with 10 or more. Freshman Danni Densford and junior Liz Buterbaugh led the team with four blocks each.
 
For the Buccaneers, it was Hardy who led the attack with a dozen kills. She hit .297 and showed her skills on defense with a match-high five blocks. Rice impressed with eight kills and no attacking errors to hit .400. Reigning SoCon Defensive Player of the Week Katie Muey led all players with 26 digs. Milhorn joined Hardy with five blocks.
 
The Terriers play their final three matches of the season on the road, beginning in less than 24 hours when they travel to Cullowhee, N.C. to take on Western Carolina. Start time is scheduled for 3 p.m.