SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford volleyball team has opened its best start to Southern Conference play in program history, after hitting .313 and seeing three Terriers finish in double figures to come away with a 25-22, 25-12, 25-23 sweep over The Citadel in Sunday afternoon's first match of the series at the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium.
 
The Terriers move to 6-2 in the Southern Conference, as the Bulldogs slip to 1-6 in the conference.
 
Sophomore Meghan Yaffa and freshman Sarah Barham led the way for the Terriers, seeing both finish with 11 kills each, as Barham turned in a career-best performance percentage-wise in connecting on all 11 swings for the match (1.000) while adding two blocks. Yaffa finished with a career-best .385 hitting percentage on 26 swings, as the Boca Raton, Fla. native also landed a season-high three service aces to couple with seven digs.
 
Senior Riley Coonan finished with 10 kills on .400 hitting for the match, as classmate Emily Durham matched a career-best four kills, including a service ace, to couple with nine digs. Freshman Emily Hodsdon tallied a match-best 37 assists with two aces, three blocks and five digs, while Kelly Hubbard added three kills on five swings (.400) and a dig.
 
Freshman libero Abbey Richman finished with a match-high 17 digs to go with three assists.
 
Despite the straight-set victory, the Bulldogs gave worthy efforts in the beginning and end of the match to make the Terriers earn the win.
 
In the opening set, both team exchanged points up until a Bulldogs attack error allowed for a brief three-point spurt, capped by blocks from the tandem of Riley Coonan and Emily Hodsdon, that forced The Citadel to burn a timeout at 16-12. With freshman Kaitlyn Brown on serve, Wofford rallied for three more points, on a pair of kills from Coonan and Emily Durham and a Bulldogs attack error, before a kill from The Citadel's Gina Delancey capped the 6-0 run at 19-13. The Bulldogs clawed back with a 5-0 run of their own to bring the margin within one, 19-18, though, Hodsdon came out of a Wofford timeout setting up a pair of crucial points for Coonan and Meghan Yaffa to extend a 22-19 cushion. The Bulldogs would knot the set up at 22-22, though, errors proved costly for the 'Dogs – with nine in the set – as a service error set up an Emily Hodsdon ace, followed by a Sarah Barham kill to secure the set for Wofford at 25-22.
 
The second set was all Wofford, seeing the Terriers fire from all cylinders in hitting .500 in the frame with 15 kills on 30 swings and zero errors. Wofford built up an early 9-7 advantage, as back-to-back kills from Coonan and Durham would set up a 12-7 lead. Another Coonan point then rattled The Citadel into four consecutive attack errors, seeing the Bulldogs exhaust a timeout trailing 17-8. A paired block from Emily Hodsdon and Sarah Barham summoned a double-digit spread (19-9), as Barham then connected on four straight swings to push a 22-10 edge. A Yaffa point then ensued prior to freshman Millie Loehr finishing the Bulldogs off, 25-12.
 
Meghan Yaffa opened the third set rolling on serve, helping setup six-straight points to open with an early 8-2 lead. The Citadel then found some urgency, quickly erasing the deficit as a trio of Wofford attack errors tied things up at 8-8 to force a Terriers timeout. The Bulldogs eventually overcame the deficit, climbing back before taking the lead and breaking another deadlock scenario to hold a 17-15 lead. From there, the Terriers kicked things into gear, as a Kelly Hubbard swing would be the spark for a 5-0 run, that saw a Kaitlyn Brown ace and Coonan kill, to reclaim a 20-17 advantage. Durham and Yaffa pushed the score to 23 prior to a Delancey kill for the Bulldogs making a one-point affair at 23-22. Nonetheless, at 24-23, Hodsdon would set Meghan Yaffa up for match point, as Yaffa drilled one down to grant Wofford its fourth consecutive win at 25-23 in the set.
 
Next, Wofford (6-2, 6-2 SoCon) returns to action on Monday, March 1, hosting The Citadel for a 5 p.m. match at the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium.