SPARTANBURG, S.C. – It was a monumental Monday evening inside the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium as the Wofford volleyball team won the first two sets against No. 15 Tennessee before the Lady Volunteers pushed the match to a fifth frame. The Terriers held firm, however, staving off the comeback push to claim set five and thusly the match (25-18, 25-20, 13-25, 19-25, 15-12) to secure a historic victory for the program. Wofford improves to 6-4 as Tennessee falls to 5-3.
 
The match marked the first time Wofford played host to a Power Conference or ranked opponent, and the victory marks the program's first-ever win over a ranked squad. It's the first Terrier win over an SEC team since dispatching Georgia in five sets in 2017. With Wofford also defeating Virginia last season, this marks the first time the Terriers have claimed wins over Power Conference foes in back-to-back seasons since 2016-17, during which Wofford bested Wake Forest and Georgia, respectively.
 
"It's wonderful," said head coach Lynze Roos of the historic upset. "We were so excited to have this match at home and to be able to bring some great competition for our community, so to be able to rise to the occasion and perform was really special tonight."
 
Wofford gained its biggest advantage at the net with seven blocks while holding Tennessee to just four. Aces were level at seven apiece, with Wofford's seven matching the team's single-match high for the year. The Lady Vols held slight advantages in kills (62-59), assists (60-54) and digs (68-61). Tennessee also hit slightly better at .284 to the .259 clip of the Terriers, but the Lady Vols committed more errors with 20 attack miscues with Wofford at just 18.
 
Mary Emily Morgan led the charge with 18 kills to match her career best. She was one of three Terriers in double figures as Bradley Brown and Sarah MacLean posted 14 and 13 kills, respectively. Brown's mark is a new career high, and the freshman hit .722 in the contest with only one error on 18 swings.
 
Guiding the offensive charge was freshman Maddy Frazier with a career-high 32 assists. Frazier made her first-career start this evening and added a career-high three aces and eight digs.
 
At the net, Annemarie Rakoski led the way with three blocks. Morgan and Natalie Arnold both posted two. Laney Klika held down the defense with 20 digs while adding a career-high 14 assists to secure the first double-double of her career. Chloe Smith posted 13 digs, a new career best, and Morgan added nine to just miss a double-double for herself.
 
"I knew tonight was going to be different than most of our games," said Klika of her double-double. "I wanted to step up for my team. I wanted to do what my coaches asked of me, and I feel like I just did my job and just wanted to be there for the girls around me."
 
The match started off with Wofford on the gas pedal. A Tennessee service error tied the score at 4-all, starting up the first of several Terrier runs. Three-straight points, punctuated by a Mary Emily Morgan ace, made the score 6-4. After a Lady Vol point, the Terriers notched back-to-back scores before another Tennessee point. An error kicked off a four-point swing for Wofford with Maddy Frazier serving back-to-back aces to cap it. After a Tennessee point, the Terriers embarked on a five-point run with Bradley Brown and Morgan adding kills before a Chloe Smith ace made the score 17-7. Another Terrier four-point swing made the advantage 21-8 as the senior duo of Morgan and Sarah MacLean each tallied two kills. But Tennessee began to fight back with five- and three-point runs to pull within 22-16. Despite cutting the margin to as close as 23-18, the Lady Vols committed back-to-back errors to seal the first set 25-18 for Wofford.
 
Set two was a tight back-and-forth affair. Morgan's kill pushed Wofford ahead 13-10 before the Lady Vols secured the next five points to pull ahead 15-13. Morgan struck again to jump start a 6-1 Wofford swing with the Terriers pulling back in front by a margin of 19-16. The momentum rested firmly with the Terriers once more as an error sparked a four-point run with Maddy Frazier adding a kill and an ace. The teams traded a couple points, but it was too late for Tennessee as Bradley Brown's two kills secured the set for Wofford, 25-20.
 
With their backs against the wall, the Lady Vols began to fight back in set three. An 11-1 swing for Tennessee in the middle goings of the frame gave the Lady Vols a 17-7 advantage. The Terriers gave their best efforts to fight back with kills from Ella Schomer, Brown and Smith. However, Tennessee rode its momentum to a 25-13 set three win.
 
The Lady Vols remained hot to open the fourth set, leading 11-5 early. But the ever-resilient Terriers pushed back, pulling within one point after a five-point swing. Morgan, Brown and MacLean added kills with a pair of Tennessee errors. The squads traded blows from there with Brown's kill making the deficit 21-18 late. But a three-point run for the Lady Vols brought about set point, and despite a MacLean kill, Tennessee secured the 25-19 set four win with a kill of its own to force a winner-take-all fifth frame.
 
The fifth set proved to be a tight battle with neither side leading by more than three points. Morgan notched a kill early to put Wofford ahead 6-4, but back-to-back points for the Lady Vols evened the set. Annemarie Rakoski and Natalie Arnold teamed up at the net for a block, and Smith put home a kill for another two-point lead. After a Tennessee point, Morgan and Brown secured back-to-back kills. With Wofford leading 10-7, the anticipation of the potential upset began permeating throughout the raucous crowd inside Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium. The sides traded blows with Tennessee pulling within 12-10, but an error gave way to Morgan posting another kill, bringing up match point at 14-10. With no more margin for error, the 15^th-ranked Lady Vols posted back-to-back points to pull within 14-12 as they tried to stave off the upset. Mary Emily Morgan had other plans, though, depositing her 18^th kill of the match to secure the program's historic triumph over Tennessee in five sets.
 
"It feels amazing," said Morgan after securing the upset. "As a senior, this is the last ranked opponent I'll play, so to get that win just feels insane. It's just an amazing feeling, and this team is so special. Even though we've had some upsetting losses to start our preseason, this just shows how special we're going to be and that we're moving in that right direction going into SoCon play."
 
After the upset victory, Wofford continues its homestand this weekend by hosting the Terrier Invite to conclude non-conference action. Presbyterian, South Carolina State and Valparaiso come to Spartanburg for the event with the Terriers matching up against the Bulldogs and Beacons. The first contest for Wofford will be Thursday, September 19, at 7:00 p.m. against SC State.