SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford volleyball team won the first two sets Friday night over Western Carolina before being pushed to a fourth, but the Terriers remained steadfast and earned the four-set victory (25-22, 25-20, 23-25, 25-19) over the Catamounts in Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium. The Terriers improve to 19-7 (10-5 SoCon) while the Catamounts drop to 9-17 (6-9 SoCon).
 
At 10-5 in conference action, the Terriers have tied their best-ever SoCon performance. The 10 league wins have been achieved only twice prior, 2017 and the 2020-21 COVID-impacted spring season. With 19 wins, Wofford is one away from its first 20-win season since 2017. Wofford has swept the season series over Western Carolina, its first series sweep of the Catamounts since 2017.
 
"It feels really good. We wanted to make sure that we had a series sweep and just execute something that we've been planning on for a long time," said senior Sarah Barham of the win. "There was a lot of great focus out there, so it felt really good."
 
Wofford hit .255 in the match while holding WCU to a .182 clip. The Terriers topped the Catamounts at the net, 11-8, and dished 10 more assists, 57-47. Despite WCU having one more ace, 8-7, the Terriers racked up seven more kills with 60 to the 53 of the Catamounts.
 
The Terrier offensive effort was balanced with three owning double-digit kills and two more with nine to fall just shy. Freshman Natalie Arnold led the way with a career-high 12 kills on a .478 hitting clip, also a career best. Arnold was guilty of only a single error on the night with 23 total attacks. Sarah Barham and Millie Loehr each added 11 kills. Loehr was also quite efficient, hitting .556 with just one error on 18 attacks. Mary Emily Morgan and Sarah MacLean each had nine kills to fall just shy of double figures.
 
"I had amazing setters to make sure to move the ball around and set me whenever. I had one block, and our defense dug in the balls," said Arnold of her career night, crediting her teammates.
 
"All we do in practice is play each other and hit balls, so we know what we needed to do. We have amazing setters working on it every day. I give it to our setters," added Arnold of the team's offensive success.
 
Taylor Pecht led the way with 31 assists, a new career best, and Emily Hodsdon had 24 of her own. Hodsdon tied with Laney Klika at two aces apiece to top the service efforts.
 
Barham and Loehr paced the blocking efforts with five and three, respectively. All three of Loehr's were solo, and four of Barham's were unassisted. Ten of the 11 Wofford blocks were solo, with Morgan adding two and Arnold owning one. Laney Klika held down the defense with 27 digs, and Addison Foote matched her career high with 19.
 
Wofford won the first three points of the match before trading blows with Western Carolina, who pulled within one, 8-7. But the Terriers went on a four-point run to pull ahead 12-7. A Sarah MacLean kill later put the Terriers up 19-14, but the Catamounts rallied and used a six-point swing to grab a one-point edge, 20-19. However, Millie Loehr delivered a kill, and Mary Emily Morgan added two of her own to flip the score back in Wofford's favor, and though the Catamounts pulled even at 22-22, Natalie Arnold's ensuing kill gave way to a pair of Morgan blocks to seal set one, 25-22, for the Terriers.
 
Trading blows early in the second, Wofford used a four-point run in the middle goings to pull ahead, 12-7. Natalie Arnold kicked it off with a kill, and Sarah Barham then added a pair of blocks, the latter assisted by Sarah MacLean. Emily Hodsdon's ace capped the run. The Catamounts fought back, pulling within one, 13-12, and then two later, 22-20. But an attack error put the momentum back in Wofford's favor, and MacLean delivered set point with a kill, and Laney Klika iced the frame with an ace to pull Wofford within a set of victory.
 
For the third set in a row, the Terriers gained a 12-7 lead and then stretched it to 14-8, but the Catamounts were not ready to give up, embarking on a 12-1 run to pull ahead, 20-15. The squads traded blows, but WCU pulled to a 24-20 lead, set point. However, Wofford remained resilient and fought back, using a Sarah Barham block to stay alive. Sarah MacLean then stepped up with a kill, and the Catamounts made an attack error to pull Wofford within a point, 24-23. But WCU would clinch the set on the next rally with a kill, sending the match to a fourth.
 
Still riding the momentum, the Catamounts earned an early lead at 8-5 in set four. But Wofford rallied back to within one at 9-8 before using a four-point run to pull ahead, 12-9. A 4-1 run later put Wofford's lead at 17-11 thanks to two Sarah Barham kills and two more from Mary Emily Morgan and Natalie Arnold. The Catamounts would chip away at the lead, pulling within 20-17, but Barham put down a kill before Addison Foote did the same. Laney Klika then sent in another ace to put Wofford up 23-17. Despite WCU fighting with a couple more points, a Millie Loehr kill created match point, and Foote ended it all with her own kill. With a 25-19 set four win, the Terriers stretched their win streak to four and downed the Catamounts in four.
 
Wofford will be back in action tomorrow night for the regular season finale in Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium against ETSU. The contest is slated for 7:00 p.m. as the nightcap of a tripleheader with the men's and women's basketball teams playing at noon and 3:00 p.m., respectively. The volleyball match is Senior Night for Wofford, who honors its six seniors prior to the contest.
 
"It's definitely bittersweet," said Millie Loehr of tomorrow's Senior Night. "I'm definitely going to miss it here and miss the gym, but I'm also really excited. I think it's going to be really good motivation for us, and we definitely want to end our conference season with a very strong note."