BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Wofford volleyball team put up a valiant effort to the reigning SoCon champion Samford Bulldogs (4-1, 4-1 SoCon) on Sunday night, receiving a plethora of career-best efforts from several Terriers despite falling in four sets at the Pete Hanna Center, 3-1.
 
Wofford slips to 2-1 in the Southern Conference and overall, as the Terriers return to action against the Bulldogs in Birmingham, Ala. tomorrow night (Monday, Feb. 15) for a 7 p.m. (ET) start on ESPN+.
 
Freshman Millie Loehr paced the Terriers on the evening, matching a career-high nine kills on a .381 hitting percentage while recording a career-best seven blocks to go along with an assist and a dig. Sophomore Kennedy Smith tallied eight kills and seven digs, while notching a career-best three blocks and tying a career-best three assists in the match.
 
Senior Riley Coonan added six kills, an ace and matched a season-high five blocks, as freshman Emily Hodsdon registered her third-straight career double-double on 27 assists and 10 digs and matched season-highs with three service aces and blocks apiece.
 
Sophomore Alexa Bertsch recorded six kills, nine digs and two blocks in her Wofford debut, while freshman Sarah Barham set a career-high on four blocks to couple with four kills. Sophomore Bella Zeman finished with three kills on a .286 hitting percentage for the match, as freshman Abbey Richman compiled a match-high 18 digs at libero for her second-highest dig total in three matches.
 
Wofford set a season-high with 14.5 blocks in the match, seeing eight Terriers contribute at the net.

Samford came out strong on the attack through the first two sets, 25-14, 25-20, before the Terriers managed to find their rhythm to hold on for a third-set victory at 25-22. The Terriers fought to the very end, rallying with match-point on the line before the Bulldogs would find the answer to put the match away in four sets.
 
The Bulldogs came out the gates firing on all cylinders, posting a .344 hitting percentage in the first set in seeing Samford hop out to 12-5 lead early on. An ace from Riley Coonan got things going for Wofford, as back-to-back Samford errors and a Millie Loehr block at the net reeled things in to see a 14-10 margin. The Bulldogs answered with a 4-0 run to force a Wofford timeout, as kills from Alexa Bertsch and Loehr ensued, though, the Samford attack held steady to close out the first set, 25-14.
 
The Terriers played with composure through the opening rallies of the second set, seeing the match deadlocked at 11-11 after a Hodsdon kill and solo block from Millie Loehr. Samford then rattled off five-straight to force a Wofford timeout at 15-11. Emily Hodsdon set up kills for Sarah Barham and Kennedy Smith to produce a four-point spread (17-13), though, the Bulldogs managed to find timely runs when needed most in extending a 22-14 lead to cap a 4-0 run. Three Samford errors in the set came to Wofford's advantage late, as a Bulldogs service error allowed for a Barham kill, Hodsdon ace and Loehr kill on set-point to force Samford to talk things over at 24-20. However, the Bulldogs converted the point on the ensuing Wofford serve to boost a 2-0 advantage.
 
The third set opened eerily similar to the second, seeing the score knotted at 10-10 again prior to Samford seeing a four-point spurt that set up a 14-10 Bulldogs lead. Kennedy Smith would dial in, swinging four kills in the set, as a Smith kill and Samford service error then set up a kill for Coonan, followed by a block from Coonan and Smith, to bring the score within one, 15-14. Another Coonan kill and back-to-back attack errors for Samford knotted the match again at 18-18 before a Sarah Barham swing set up a much-needed 3-0 run, on two aces from Emily Hodsdon and a Millie Loehr kill, to summon a 22-19 cushion. Smith added her fourth kill of the set late, prior to Loehr finishing the Bulldogs off to force a fourth set, 25-22.
 
Both teams played each other tightly throughout the fourth set, as a 3-0 run would provide separation for the Bulldogs midway through at 17-12. Riley Coonan and Kennedy Smith teamed up for a block that rattled the Bulldogs over the next two points to see a Samford timeout up 17-15. Smith and Coonan paced Wofford with kills before Samford then clamped down to see back-to-back points from the Bulldogs' Lauren Deaton, who led with a match-high 20 kills, extend a 23-17 advantage on a 4-0 run. Another Deaton kill set up match-point, though, Wofford rallied behind a trio of back-to-back blocks by Sarah Barham, along with Bertsch, Smith and Loehr, to climb back within three, 24-21. Coming out of a Samford timeout, the Bulldogs would execute on Wofford's serve to corral the match-point with a 25-21 finish and conclude the match at 3-1.