SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Despite going down two sets to one, the Wofford volleyball team rallied to win a five setter over Chattanooga in front of a nice crowd on Saturday afternoon in Wofford's Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium. With the win, Wofford improves to 15-7 on the season and 5-3 in Southern Conference play, while Chattanooga falls to 11-11 overall and 4-4 in conference action.
Chattanooga won the first set 25-23 in a close one, but Wofford fought back to win the second set (25-15) to even the match at the break. Out of the break, Chattanooga took the third set 25-21 to take a 2-1 lead, but the Terriers rallied to win the fourth set, 25-20, and the fifth set, 15-10, to secure the win.
Wofford fell 1-3 to ETSU on Friday night, but showed a lot of fight to rebound less than 24 hours later.
"I'm so pleased we came out today ready to battle after last night's loss," said Wofford head coach
Lynze Roos. "We did a better job today of tracking our hitters and putting a much better block up."
Wofford won the battle at the net, out blocking Chattanooga 13-11. The Terriers hit .149 in the match and held the Mocs to just .073. Wofford finished with 18 more digs and nine more assists than Chattanooga. Chattanooga, however, won the battle at the service line, and finished with seven aces to Wofford's five.
"Chattanooga really took it to us behind the service line," Roos noted. "It took some time to adjust to their serving, but we did and finally answered with some pressure of our own in sets four and five."
Catie Cronister led all players with 17 kills on a match high 51 attempts. She added 15 digs to record her eight double-double of the season.
Bijonae Jones followed with 15 kills and hit .235 in the match. She, too, recorded a double-double, her fourth of the season, adding 10 digs in the win.
Colleen Reilly joined the pair in double-digit kills with 10. She added two solo blocks and six block assists in the match.
Sophomore setter
Lorissa King dished out 49 assists, while junior libero
Taylor Gill had a match high 27 digs.
"Taylor had a strong match defensively," said Roos. "She was making some good reads against some tough attackers."
The first set was close throughout. Wofford took an early lead and forced Chattanooga to take a timeout, trailing 6-10. The Mocs chipped away at the Terrier lead and tied the match at 13. Tied 21-21, Chattanooga took the lead on the next point and held on to win the set 25-23.
The second set was all Terriers. Chattanooga won the first point, but Wofford never trailed again in the set. Gill rallied off five straight serves to finish off the set, 25-15 in favor of Wofford. The Terriers hit .261, the team's highest hitting percentage of the match.
The Mocs came out with a vengeance in the third set, leading 3-10 and 6-13 at points. Wofford pulled within four at 22-18, but the difference was too much to overcome and the Mocs took the third set 25-21 to take a 2-1 lead.
Wofford, refusing to go down without a fight, dominated the fourth set. The Terriers never trailed, though the Mocs threatened multiple times. Wofford won 25-20 to force a fifth set.
Wofford's momentum carried over to the fifth and final set. Again, Wofford never trailed and a block by King and Reilly sealed 15-10 set win and the 3-2 match win for Wofford.
Today's match was the final of a six match homestand for Wofford. Wofford went 5-1 in those matches with the lone loss coming last night to ETSU. The Terriers head to Greenville for a Wednesday, Oct. 18 showdown with Furman, who is a perfect 7-0 in conference play. The Terriers then return home for two final matches, hosting Samford Oct. 20 and Mercer Oct. 21 (senior night), before finishing with five consecutive road matches.
