SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford volleyball team opened its home slate with a pair of sweeps on Friday in its annual Wofford Invitational. The Terriers dispatched South Carolina State (25-7, 25-11, 25-18) in the morning before downing Georgia State (25-15, 25-7, 25-16) in the nightcap inside Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium. Wofford improves to 3-1 after the triumphs.
 
Match One – vs. SC State
The Terriers controlled every facet of the match against the Bulldogs, notably serving up nine aces to just one by SC State and 11 blocks to four. Wofford dished 28 helpers in comparison to just 13 by SC State. The Terriers hit at a .188 clip compared to the -.086 mark of the Bulldogs, who only hit in the positives in set three (.065).
 
Millie Loehr remained hot after a stellar opening weekend, topping the team in both kills and blocks with eight and five, respectively. All five of those swats came in set one. Loehr hit at a staggering .778 clip with just a single error on nine swings.
 
Emily Hodsdon paced the squad in aces (four) and assists (22). Abbey Richman continued her defensive consistency, posting her 24^th-straight match with double-digit digs with 13.
 
Annemarie Rakoski was stout with seven kills and four blocks to fall just shy of Loehr in both marks. Carson Eubanks tallied a pair of assists to sit not far behind Hodsdon.
 
All 19 players on the Wofford roster graced the court in the match-up against the Bulldogs.
 
SC State opened the match with a kill, but Wofford then raced away by claiming each of the next six points to set a tone for the set and match. A seven-point run later in the set was highlighted by three consecutive Loehr blocks, two of which were solo. The run provided a 23-7 lead after the Bulldogs broke it, but Wofford claimed the next two points to seal the set.
 
In the middle goings of set two, a Bulldog service error kicked off an eight-point Wofford run that was punctuated by a pair of Emily Hodsdon aces. The Terriers led 22-6 and raced from there to a 25-11 set win after Bri Mahoney put home the final kill.
 
SC State put forth a fight in the third set, tying the match at 15-15 in the middle portions. But an Emily Normand kill sparked a five-point swing that featured three attack errors and an Elise Schneider kill to push the Terriers ahead 20-15. The Bulldogs could not regain any footing from there, as Wofford utilized a pair of kills from each Bri Mahoney and Millie Loehr at the end to put the set and match away.
 
Match Two – vs. Georgia State
After taking two matches off for neutral site action, the Terriers took to court again in the nightcap and picked up where they left off after the morning's action. Wofford out-hit Georgia State by a whopping .250 to -.038 margin. The Terriers were guilty of just nine attack errors while the Panthers committed 26.
 
Wofford also owned the net with nine blocks to Georgia State's two and the service line with seven aces to again two for the Panthers.
 
A balanced offensive attack paced the Terriers as Sarah Barham, Millie Loehr and Mary Emily Morgan each touted nine kills in the match. They all hit over .300, led by Loehr (.500) and Barham (.563) clubbing at least .500. Loehr committed only one error while Barham and Morgan went errorless on 16 and 25 swings, respectively.
 
Taylor Pecht topped the team with three aces and 17 assists. Barham and Loehr had the net on lock with five and four blocks, respectively. Loehr's efforts gave her a total of nine blocks on the day.
 
"That goes to the work we put in practice and preseason," said Loehr of her and the team's blocking efforts. "I started this year really wanting to focus on my blocking. Even in the spring, that was my main goal, and I just try to focus on that every game."
 
Abbey Richman scooped 21 digs to push her double-digit streak to 25 games. Addison Foote was not too far behind with 18.
 
"A lot of it I attribute to our effort," said Richman of her and the team's defensive success. "We have a really hard time of letting the other team get the ball on the floor. A lot of that goes to out block – we have a really strong block, and they have really good set-ups, so it's easier to play defense behind them. So a lot of it goes to them, and a lot of it goes to our hustle, just making sure the ball does not hit the ground."
 
The Panthers stayed within striking distance of the Terriers throughout the majority of set one, trailing 18-14 after a pair of kills. But a Sarah Barham kill opened a four-point run that ultimately turned into a 7-1 swing to seal the set with Loehr taking charge at the end. Her two kills preceded a tandem block with Mary Emily Morgan to get Wofford up early.
 
What followed was a dominant second set that saw the Terriers go on a pair of six-point runs that were broken by just a single Panther point, a total of a 12-1 swing. This set the stage for the Terriers to run to a 25-7 second set win.
 
Another six-point run in set three created separation for Wofford with a 16-5 lead. The run was kick started by a Sarah Barham and Mad Wilson tandem block, and the duo took charge from there as Barham added a pair of kills and Wilson one of her own. With four of five points late in the frame, Georgia State was making a late push to come back, but a ball handling error put the serve back in the hands of the Terriers, which turned into a four-point match-clinching run.
 
Up Next
After a pair of Friday sweeps, Wofford will look to close out the event and weekend in style with the Wofford Invitational's finale against Elon tomorrow afternoon. The contest is set to begin at 1:00 p.m. in Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium.