CHARLESTON, S.C. – Led by 13 kills apiece from senior Taylor Baird and freshman Danni Densford, the Wofford volleyball team got the Southern Conference season started with a three-set victory over The Citadel (25-21, 25-20, 25-16) Saturday afternoon at McAlister Fieldhouse.
 
Baird and Densford were dominant. The senior-freshman duo went for 26 of Wofford's 49 kills in the match and combined to hit .522. Densford led all players by hitting .600 (13-1-20) on a career-high 13 kills, while Baird came in at .462 (13-1-26).
 
Wofford (8-9, 1-0 SoCon) fought off a feisty effort from The Citadel (5-11, 0-2 SoCon) in sets one and two. The Bulldogs led 15-10 in the first before the Terriers took the lead late with a 10-3 run. In the second, The Citadel trailed just 15-14 until the Terriers put together another late run to extend the lead to 22-17 and control the match.
 
"Its exciting to begin the conference season with a win," head coach Ron Sweet said. "This team knows how important it is to get off to a good start in these matches. You don't want to get behind early and be fighting your way back."
 
The Terriers hit .367 – five points off their season-high – and outplayed the home team in every statistical category. The largest discrepancy was in blocks. Wofford registered eight and was not blocked once by The Citadel – the first time the Terriers held an opponent without a block since Sept. 11, 2009 against Winston-Salem State. Densford led the way with a career-high seven rejections.
 
"We're starting to play Wofford volleyball," Sweet added.
 
Freshman setter Molly Mayo posted 42 assists – top 10 all-time at Wofford for a three-set match – and was all over the stat sheet with five digs, four kills (.800) and three blocks. Junior Jessica Graham went for a match-high 25 digs – the second-most at Wofford for a three-set match (27, Brittany Thompson, 2008).
 
The win improved Wofford to 28-5 against The Citadel in the all-time series. The Terriers have won the last six meetings.
 
Baird got the day started with a set-high five kills in the first set, but it was The Citadel who took the first significant lead. A kill by Moriah Smith started a 7-3 spurt that put the home team in front 15-10. That's when the Terriers turned it on, beginning with a slam from Baird that sparked a 10-3 run. Baird and Densford had two kills each during the span, which saw The Citadel burn both of its timeouts. Baird's second kill of the run put Wofford in front 18-17 and freshman Tierney Flaherty closed the set with one of her four kills in the match.
 
Baird notched five more kills in the second and scored Wofford's first three points, but it was Densford that led the Terrier offense to a match-high .471 attack percentage. Densford – the reigning Southern Conference Freshman of the Week – punched six kills with no errors on nine attempts. She came up in big spots, leveling the set at 11 and using her fourth kill of the set to put Wofford in front by two for the first time, 14-12, burning The Citadel's first timeout. Densford's next blow put the Terriers in front 22-17, forcing another Bulldog timeout, and she finished off the set with her sixth.
 
The third was all Wofford. After five ties and two lead changes that came very early on, the Terriers scored five straight points on sophomore Ellie Tallman's serve to go in front 9-5 and never look back. Densford, Baird and Tallman recorded three kills apiece. A second 5-0 Wofford run came midway through the set to make it 18-11 and the Terriers took their largest lead of 10 points at 24-14 on Densford's final kill of the match.
 
The Wofford volleyball team returns to Benjamin Johnson Arena for its next match. The Terriers will look for another SoCon victory against conference-rival Furman (8-4, 1-0) on Wednesday at 7 p.m.