BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Wofford volleyball team advances to the 2021 Southern Conference Championship match after downing the ninth-seeded Furman Paladins (9-20, 3-14 SoCon) in four sets, 22-25, 29-27, 25-21, 25-15, on Saturday evening to make its first finals appearance since 2017 at the Pete Hanna Center in Birmingham, Ala. Freshman middle blocker Sarah MacLean dominated with a career-high 18-kill performance to highlight Wofford's performers on the night, followed by Emory Wyatt and Sarah Barham with strong performances, both offensively and defensively.  
 
"We survived. That Furman team is so scrappy. They're playing good volleyball and they had our number all year long," said head coach Lynze Roos of outlasting the Paladins. "We survived it and I think that we played with pretty good discipline, so it's really exciting to see the team here right now."
 
The Terriers also beat the Paladins in 2017 to reach the finals, as Wofford awaits the winner of No. 3 Samford / No. 7 The Citadel to determine its opponent in Sunday's championship match.
 
MacLean hit a blistering .469 for the match (a career-best also), while recording five blocks defensively, as Wyatt tallied her fifth double-figure performance of the season with 10 kills and seven blocks (matching a career-best). Sophomore middle blocker Sarah Barham recorded eight kills and a match-high 11 blocks on the night.
 
Emily Hodsdon registered 43 assists, four kills, two blocks and aces and seven digs to pace the Terriers throughout the match, while freshman outside hitter Mary Emily Morgan finished with eight kills and six digs. Sophomore Addison Foote added three kills, two blocks and assists and three digs, as libero Kaitlyn Brown tallied 11 digs and three assists.
 
Junior Kennedy Smith recorded a team-high 13 digs, along with a block and ace, as Chasidy Sharpe finished with an ace and four digs, followed by Abbey Richman with an ace and three digs.
 
Wofford tallied 16 blocks for the match and held the Paladins to just .099 hitting over four sets, while swinging .236 on 54 kills to Furman's 49.
 
Furman opened with a victory in the first set, 25-22, and was poised to run away with the second set up 20-12 before a relentless 7-0 Terriers run brought Wofford back within striking distance at 22-19.
 
Furman would notch set-point at 24-20, though, the Terriers held the Paladins off on consecutive Sarah MacLean and Bella Zeman kills before a pair of Furman errors knotted the set at 24-24. The two teams traded points up to a 27-27 deadlock, as Emory Wyatt swung home a kill for set point prior to a big Sarah Barham and Mary Emily Morgan combination block that swung the match in Wofford's favor with a 29-27 second-set finish.
 
Wofford continued to roll in the third set, using a 4-0 run that saw kills from Barham, Wyatt and a Chasidy Sharpe ace grant the Terriers a 15-10 lead by the media timeout. The Terriers landed point after point to boost a seven-point cushion at 20-13, as kills crucial kills from Barham and MacLean burned Furman's final timeout at 23-16. A 5-0 Paladins run brought the margin to two (23-21), however, Wofford weathered the Furman rally, as Wyatt recorded a kill for set point before denying a Furman swing with Sarah Barham to claim the third set and advantage for the match, 25-21.
 
The Terriers dominated from start to finish in the fourth set, recording the first eight points of the frame to hold an 8-1 lead at a Paladins timeout. A Hodsdon kill and Furman attack error pushed a 10-point spread, 13-3, before Wofford would continue to maintain a comfy lead at 17-9 upon back-to-back Sarah Barham kills. The Terriers steadily held the six to seven-point margins going forward through the latter portions of the set, as a Hodsdon ace and subsequent Paladins attack error brought match-point at 24-15. Wyatt would then put the nail in the coffin, landing her 10^th kill of the match to secure Wofford's appearance in Sunday's finals after a 25-15 fourth-set tally.

Sunday's championships match is slated for a 5 p.m. ET start in Birmingham, Ala. to be streamed on ESPN+.