SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford volleyball team was locked in a heavyweight bout inside the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium Tuesday night, trading blows with the High Point Panthers and pushing the match to a fifth set, but HPU ultimately claimed the match (25-19, 23-25, 22-25, 25-22, 17-15) in a tight final frame. Wofford falls to 4-2 while HPU improves to 4-3.
 
The squads played a relatively even match, with HPU committing two more attack errors, 26-24, but claiming more kills, 69-62. The Panthers also hit at a higher clip, .239 to .216. HPU topped the net 12-8, but Wofford put forth one more ace, 4-3.
 
Wofford relied on a balanced attack with four Terriers notching double-digit kills. Mary Emily Morgan led the way with 14, adding nine digs. Sarah Barham tallied 12 kills alongside her team-leading six blocks. Millie Loehr and Sarah MacLean each added 10 kills and hit .500 and .320, respectively. Addison Foote was just short of double figures with nine kills, and she added 10 digs to barely miss a double-double.
 
Feeding the attack was Emily Hodsdon and her team-leading 38 assists. She added 15 digs to record her first double-double of the season and the 23^rd of her career. Hodsdon also led the service efforts with three aces.
 
Abbey Richman showed why just yesterday she was named SoCon Defensive Player of the Week by scooping 20 more digs tonight, topping the team. This is Richman's second 20-plus dig performance of the season after recording 21 Friday night against Georgia State. Her streak of consecutive matches with double-digit digs now sits at 27.
 
The first set was controlled by Wofford, as the Terriers claimed the lead early with the first three points and never relinquished it. After Wofford claimed a 16-10 lead, the Panthers began to chip away but stayed a step behind the whole way. A Sarah Barham block and Sarah MacLean kill sealed the set at the end to give Wofford the early edge.
 
The second set provided more of an indication of how the remainder of the match would play out, as the sides traded a plethora of punches. HPU took an early lead and held it at 8-5 before a five-point Wofford run flipped the margin. However, the Panthers utilized a four-point run later in the set to pull back ahead, 19-16. Despite this, the Terriers kept pushing and used an Addison Foote kill and Panther error to pull within one, 24-23. But the Panthers would get the next kill and take the set, 25-23, to even the match.
 
Set three was more of the same, a back-and-forth battle that HPU led most of the way. But Wofford remained close behind, and a three-point run in the later portions pulled the Terriers within a point, 23-22, highlighted by a Millie Loehr and Ella Schomer tandem block. But the Panthers responded, collecting the final two points and moving within a set of a win.
 
With a 14-4 lead in set four, HPU looked ready to race to victory. But with their backs against the wall, the Terriers began to claw back. After trading points, Wofford ensued on a four-point run to pull closer at 16-11. Later, the Panthers led 21-17 before Mary Emily Morgan found a rhythm, sending home a kill to kick off a five-point swing in which Morgan provided three kills. Though an error broke the run, a Panther error put the serve back in Wofford's hands, and Sarah Barham tallied a kill before teaming up with Sarah MacLean on a set-sealing block. The 25-22 fourth set win forced a decisive fifth set, Wofford's first of the season.
 
Emily Hodsdon opened the final frame with an ace to precede a Mary Emily Morgan kill. But the teams would ensue to trade blows the entire set, with neither team able to pull away to a lead greater than two. Sarah Barham's late kill leveled the set at 15-15, the 13^th tie of a set that also saw nine lead changes. But the Panthers would prevail after notching the next two points, winning the five-set see-saw battle.
 
After a tenacious Tuesday effort, the Terriers return to action this weekend by hosting the Terrier Invite. Presbyterian, Saint Francis and Belmont will all come to town, and Wofford plays its first of two matches Friday at 12:30 p.m. against the Blue Hose inside Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium.