SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Behind an efficient and balanced attacking efforts led by Victoria Hensley's career-high 44 assists, the Wofford volleyball team earned a straight-set victory (25-19, 25-20, 25-21) over the UNCG Spartans Sunday evening. The result inside the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium improves Wofford's record to 11-6 and 3-2 in the SoCon. UNCG drops to 7-9 and 1-2 in league play.
 
After dropping the first two matches in SoCon play on the road, the Terriers have won three-straight after returning home to move over .500 in league action. The straight-set triumph is Wofford's eighth sweep of the campaign, its most since notching 11 straight-set wins in 2017.
 
"It's great to finally feel like we're playing the volleyball that we want to, like the rhythm we had is really nice" said associate head coach Ali Skayhan of the bounce-back win streak. "Playing on the road is hard. We knew what we were capable of, but it feels really good to be back home and doing it in our gym."
 
The Terriers enjoyed an offensive explosion this evening with a .351 hitting percentage, Wofford's second-highest clip in a match this season behind only the .423 mark against SC State. The Terriers also racked up eight aces, 50 kills and 50 assists.
 
The Terrier attack was a balanced one behind three with double-digit kills. Kennedy Smith remained hot with 12 as Sarah MacLean was right behind with 11. Millie Loehr notched 10, and Bella Zeman had nine to just miss out on being a fourth in double figures.
 
Propelling the stout team hitting mark were three individual efforts over .300. Loehr swung at a .714 clip with no errors on 14 swings. MacLean hit .588 on the night, a new career high, with a lone error on 17 attempts. Sarah Barham swung 12 times for a .333 percentage with one error and five kills.
 
"It feels great," said junior middle hitter Millie Loehr of the efficient, mistake-free attacking. "It really just goes back to how hard we've been working in practice. We don't make it easy against each other when we practice so we can be able to narrow those shots down to exactly where the defense isn't."
 
Setting up all of those kills was Victoria Hensley, whose 44 assists paced the team and gave her a new career high. This is the third-straight match in which Hensley has set a new career-best for assists after dishing 35 against Furman and then 43 yesterday against Western Carolina.
 
"That feels great; that's awesome," said freshman setter Victoria Hensley of her career-high assist streak. "I actually had no idea. I haven't looked at it, but that feels really good."
 
"It's amazing," added Hensley of the offensive success from her dishes. "Our hitters are great. They make me feel very appreciated all the time. They're very appreciative of the sets. And it's definitely great to have hitters that can terminate on good balls, and I feel like we do 100 percent of the time. And it makes me feel really good, makes my job a lot easier."
 
Barham led the way with three aces, and Millie Loehr handled the net with three blocks. Abbey Richman's 15 digs led the squad. Richman has tallied double-digit digs in now nine consecutive matches, leading the team in each of them.
 
Wofford raced out to an early 10-5 lead in the first set, and it eventually extended out to 20-12. The Spartans gave their best efforts to fight back, but Sarah MacLean smacked down back-to-back kills to put away the set, 25-19.
 
Wofford won the first point of set two, but UNCG fought back to lead 4-3 before the Terriers embarked on a four-point run. But the Spartans caught back up, setting up what would become a back-and-forth set. UNCG led 12-11, but a three-point run punctuated by a Sarah Barham ace and a MacLean kill put Wofford back in front 14-12. The Spartans kept it close, pulling within one at 21-20, but the Terriers got on a roll and locked it down from there. Millie Loehr notched two kills before Mary Emily Morgan added one of her own. At set point, it Loehr coming up big again, this time with a block, to ice the set at 25-20.
 
Set three started off close as well, with the sides tied at five all, but Wofford eventually pulled ahead at 10-6. The Spartans kept on Wofford's heels, pulling within one at 15-14 and then tying the affair at 19-19. But that was when Wofford embarked on another run, this time five points, create the final breathing room. MacLean started it off with a kill, followed by one from Kennedy Smith before MacLean came through again. Then Bella Zeman sent home a service ace, and an attacking error added the run's final point for a 24-19 lead. The Spartans claimed two-straight points to try and fight back, but it was too little too late as Sarah Barham claimed the final kill to seal the win for Wofford.
 
The Terriers remain at home for the fourth and final match of their homestand on Wednesday. Wofford welcomes The Citadel to town for a 6:00 p.m. start.