BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The No. 4-seeded Wofford volleyball team left it all out on the court in Friday evening's Southern Conference Semifinals matchup, climbing back from a 2-1 deficit to force five sets with a match-point opportunity, though, the top-seeded Samford Bulldogs managed to weather the Terriers' resilience to pull out the 3-2 victory (21-25, 25-23, 19-25, 25-12, 14-16) and move on to Sunday's championship match at the Pete Hanna Center in Birmingham, Ala.
 
The Bulldogs (14-3, 13-3 SoCon) will face the winner of No. 3 Mercer and No. 4 Western Carolina in Sunday's, April 3, championship, slated for a 4 p.m. CT start.
 
Wofford concludes the 2020-21 season with a 10-7 overall record and 10-6 Southern Conference record.
 
First Team All-SoCon honoree Riley Coonan was stellar for Wofford in her final match in old gold and black, hitting .321 for the match with 10 kills while recording a season-best eight blocks (seven solo) and two digs. Freshman Sarah Barham, who recently received All-SoCon Second Team and Freshman Team honors, recorded a team-high 12 kills to cap her freshman campaign with her ninth double-figure performance, while tallying six blocks and two digs.
 
Sophomore Bella Zeman was strong for the Terriers with seven kills and five digs, as first-year Millie Loehr finished with five kills and a block. All-Freshman recipient Emily Hodsdon finished the season with her seventh double-double of 31 assists and 10 digs, while also recording three kills and two blocks.
 
Sophomore Meghan Yaffa added three kills, an ace, block and five digs, as senior Emily Durham tallied 12 digs to go with an ace and a kill in her final Wofford match. Freshman libero Abbey Richman corralled 30 digs – her second most recorded in a match – while dishing a career-best six assists and landing two services aces.
 
After dropping the first set, 25-21, the Terriers began to compete fiercely in building up its confidence to nab a second-set victory and prove it belonged with the two-time SoCon Champion Samford Bulldogs.
 
Wofford went blow-for-blow with the Bulldogs to start the second up until a brief 4-0 Samford run allowed for a 16-9 lead midway through the set. The Terriers crept back, as a Barham kill, followed by back-to-back Samford attack errors, and solo block then cut the deficit to three, 16-13. A Millie Loehr point and Riley Coonan block then capped a momentum-swinging 7-2 run, forcing a Samford timeout at 18-16, as kills from Emily Durham and Coonan tied the margin prior to a Yaffa ace and Coonan kill claiming a 22-20 lead late. The Bulldogs climbed back to take the lead (23-22), as a crucial Coonan kill and paired block from Sarah Barham and Emily Hodsdon notched set-point for the Terriers. Kaitlyn Brown then capped the late 3-0 run, landing a huge ace to wrap things up in the second at 25-23.
 
The Bulldogs responded holding early leads through the third, though, a Yaffa kill and Barham solo block put Wofford within one, 12-11. A Samford sequence of a kill, block and ace pushed a 15-11 cushion, as a Wofford attack error and kill from Kenya McQuirter then extended an 18-13 lead for the Bulldogs. Robyn Krause found her first kill of the day on the ensuing play, but the Bulldogs continued to stretch their lead to 21-15 in forcing a late Wofford timeout. Despite seeing a Barham kill in the mix, Samford would pull away to claim the advantage with a 25-19 victory in the frame.
 
The Terriers showed their resilience in blitzing the Bulldogs to open the third, as a massive 11-0 run put Wofford up with a dominant 16-3 cushion. Wofford was up 5-3 up until a Sarah Barham kill from Hodsdon got things going, followed by a Millie Loehr kill and Coonan solo block to force a timeout at 8-3. Another Coonan point ensued, as the Terriers then came out of the timeout rattling Samford into three consecutive attack errors to burn Samford's second timeout of the half. A Coonan solo block followed by back-to-back kills picked up where the Terriers left off, as an Abbey Richman ace then pushed the 16-3 margin.
 
A pair of points from Coonan and Hodsdon followed, as Coonan continued to pace Wofford to a 22-7 lead before Bella Zeman chipped in back-to-back kills for set-point. Samford rallied for a few last-chance points prior to Sarah Hayes Farley recording a service error to hand over the fourth set to the Terriers and force a fifth set.
 
With a Southern Conference championship berth on the line, both teams competed intensely, seeing Samford jump out to a 6-1 lead before the Terriers climbed back to deadlock the score at 6-6. A Samford service error put Abbey Richman on serve, as Millie Loehr brought home a kill prior to Richman's second ace of the day (6-4). A Bulldogs attack error followed while Riley Coonan denied a Samford swing at the net to tie the margin. Consecutive Samford attack errors allowed Wofford to hold a one-point edge (11-10), as Coonan responded with a clutch kill down the stretch to hold a 12-10 advantage.
 
A Barham kill put the Terriers up two, 13-11, as Samford tied the margin at 13-13 prior to a Barham solo block pushing match-point for Wofford. Samford then swung the momentum in their favor after a Lauren Deaton kill and block from Samford's Sierra Rayzor subsequently claimed match-point for the Bulldogs. On the ensuing possession, Loehr would go up for a a swing that would unfortunately sail wide of the court to grant Samford the 16-14 set victory and 3-2 win overall to advance into Sunday's championship.
 
Riley Coonan finishes the season as the team's points leader (226.5), while also leading the team with 181 kills and 2.78 per set. Sarah Barham finishes as the team's leader in hitting percentage (.357), also being the current SoCon leader in the category, and blocks (63.0), as Emily Hodsdon finishes with a team-best 642 assists (9.88/s) and 24 aces. Abbey Richman led the team with 283 digs (4.35/s) in her freshman season.
 
Additionally, Wofford finished the 2020-21 season with the fourth-best attack percentage (.211) achieved in a season.