SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium played host to a battle Saturday night between the Wofford volleyball team and the Mercer Bears, with the Terriers unable to hang on after claiming the first two sets to fall in five (25-19, 25-22, 23-25, 17-25, 10-15). Wofford slips to 16-12 and 8-8 in league action with the result while Mercer improves to 10-18, 6-10 in SoCon play.
 
Before the match, Wofford honored its seven senior Terriers in the senior night ceremony: Emory Wyatt, Chasidy Sharpe, Kennedy Smith, Kaitlyn Brown, Bella Zeman, Meghan Yaffa and Alexa Bertsch. All seven senior Terriers played in the match, with Smith, Yaffa and Bertsch starting.
 
Wofford held a slight blocking edge, 6-5, in the contest, but service was a roller coaster that played a heavy role in determining the match. The Bears committed five service errors in each of the first three sets for 15 total while the Terriers committed nine in the same span, but Mercer tallied either more or equal aces in each set. After Mercer stayed alive with a set three win, Wofford failed to record an ace in the final two sets while the Bears delivered five total.
 
Millie Loehr led the way on offense with 16 kills, tying her career high. Senior Bella Zeman notched eight kills with Sarah Barham's seven close behind. Alexa Bertsch and Meghan Yaffa each earned season highs with five and three, respectively.
 
Victoria Hensley paced the offense with 37 assists. This is her 12^th match in the last 14 with over 30 assists and sixth consecutive. She also sent home a team-leading three aces.
 
Defensively, Barham controlled Wofford's net-minding efforts with four blocks. Abbey Richman again led the way with 19 digs, her 20^th-straight match recording double-digits.
 
Wofford claimed the first point of the match and never looked back in set one, earning a hard-fought 25-19 win with the Bears nipping at Wofford's heels the whole way.
 
Set two was more of a fight, featuring eight ties and two lead changes. Wofford won the first point again, but Mercer eventually led 20-18 late. But Kennedy Smith notched a kill to spark a four-point run and flip the margin. The Terriers held on from there, with a Bear service error clinching the 2-0 lead for Wofford.
 
If set two was a fight, set three was a war with 10 ties and four lead changes. This time Mercer claimed point one before Wofford battled back to lead 13-12. A pair of points by the Bears put them ahead, and they held on to reach set point at 24-19. But Bella Zeman kept the Terriers alive with a kill, sending Victoria Hensley to the service line. She delivered two aces as part of a four-point run to bring Wofford within a point, but Mercer held on to claim the set 25-23.
 
The Bears rode that momentum into set four and raced to a 20-10 lead. The Terriers put up a fight but couldn't keep pace and fell 25-17 to move into a winner-take-all fifth frame.
 
Mercer stayed hot entering the set, holding a 7-3 lead early, but Wofford rattled off four-straight points to tie the set at seven. But the Bears responded with five consecutive of their own, and the Terriers were unable to respond and close the gap again, falling in five sets in the regular-season finale.
 
At the conclusion of the regular season, Wofford has earned the No. 5 seed entering next weekend's Southern Conference Tournament. The Terriers will square off against No. 4 Chattanooga at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 18 in Greenville, S.C. in the quarterfinals.