BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Wofford volleyball team dropped a straight-set decision at Samford (2-10, 1-0 SoCon) in Birmingham, Ala. on Wednesday night, slipping in three sets at the Pete Hanna Center, 19-25, 18-25, 21-25, to drop to 6-8 overall and 0-2 in the Southern Conference.
 
Sophomore middle blocker Sarah Barham finished with six kills, four blocks and two digs, while junior outside hitter Meghan Yaffa led with a team-high seven kills on 13 swings (.538) and a block. Sophomore outside hitter Addison Foote finished with three kills, two blocks and five digs, as setter Emily Hodsdon recorded 19 assists along with three kills, two digs and a consecutive four-block performance.
 
Junior middle hitter Emory Wyatt added two kills and two blocks, while freshman Mary Emily Morgan finished with three kills, two blocks and four digs. Freshman Sarah MacLean recorded a career-best two blocks to couple with her first career block, while junior Chasidy Sharpe landed two aces.
 
Junior Kennedy Smith corralled a team-high eight digs, along with an ace and three assists, while Bella Zeman added two kills and Millie Loehr added a block. Sophomore Kaitlyn Brown rounds out the Terriers' contributions with six digs.
 
Samford was led by Kenya McQuirter with a match-high 13 kills, followed by Lauren Deaton with nine kills, two aces and six digs. The Bulldogs finished the match hitting .242 and dominated at the net for a majority of the night before Wofford came alive late to hold the block advantage, 9-7.
 
Additionally, both teams struggled on serve over the match's duration, seeing Samford rack up 11 service errors to Wofford's eight, though, the Bulldogs also capitalized when points were needed, finishing the match with eight aces on the night. Samford also held the edge in digs for the match, 37-31.
 
The Bulldogs opened the first set with an 8-3 lead prior to a Wofford 4-0 run, on Mary Emily Morgan kills and combination blocks with Emory Wyatt, to close in 9-7. A Samford service error then allowed the Terriers to take a brief lead before being tied at 12-12 after a Kennedy Smith ace and kills from Sarah Barham and Meghan Yaffa. Samford would take a 15-13 edge into the media timeout, coming out the break with an ace, kill and block to force a Wofford timeout, 19-15. After burning its last timeout at 21-15, errors along with a kill from Wyatt and blocks from Morgan and Barham kept the Terriers alive at 23-19, though, consecutive miscues would hand over the first set to Samford, 25-19.
 
Chasidy Sharpe paced the Terriers with a pair of aces, along with an Addison Foote kill, to open with a 3-0 advantage in the second set, though, the Bulldogs stormed back to claim a 9-6 lead after consecutive blocks and a Lauren Deaton ace, forcing a Wofford timeout. The Terriers notched consecutive blocks from Emily Hodsdon/Millie Loehr and Mary Emily Morgan/Sarah Barham, while Samford executed from all angles, using back-to-back aces to force another Terriers timeout down 16-9. Wofford found balanced efforts from Barham, Yaffa, Foote and Hodsdon to chip away (22-16), however, the Bulldogs remained consistent to see McQuirter kills finish the frame in Samford's favor, 25-18.
 
Samford pushed a 9-6 lead through the third up until kills from Bella Zeman and Sarah Barham cut into the lead, 11-9. A Barham and Yaffa block, followed by kills from Sarah MacLean and Emily Hodson, then corralled Wofford's rhythm, as a Zeman point and block from Barham and Hodsdon went on to grant the Terriers a 19-18 lead. A pair of errors struck Wofford to rekindle a two-point lead for the Bulldogs (21-19) and force Wofford's last timeout, as Samford's Kenya McQuiter would takeover through the latter portion of the match to bring set point at 24-20. Yaffa would hold off briefly with her team-high seventh kill, though, McQuirter would fittingly end things to give Samford its first SoCon win, 25-21.
 
Next, Wofford (6-8, 0-2 SoCon) travels to face Mercer in Macon, Ga. for a 3 p.m. matchup at Hawkin Arena tomorrow, Saturday, Sept. 25.