SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford volleyball team finished its own Wofford Invitational in style with a straight-set sweep Saturday afternoon of the Presbyterian Blue Hose (25-13, 25-16, 25-18) in the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium. The Terriers went a perfect 3-0 to claim the event's crown without dropping a set, and Wofford has improved to 4-2 on the season. Presbyterian falls to 1-5.
 
The Terriers topped the Blue Hose in most phases of the match, most notably posting a season-best six aces to the two of Presbyterian. The Blue Hose held a blocking edge with four to Wofford's three, but the Terriers far outpaced the Blue Hose with 52 kills and 49 assists to the 28 and 25, respectively, of Presbyterian. Wofford also put up 77 digs, tying the program's record for a three-set match. With a .331 hitting clip, the Terrier offense remained in rhythm with the defense holding firm, too, holding Presbyterian to a .113 mark.
 
"I think we've got a really fast offense, which works in our favor a lot of times because most teams run a lot of higher balls and we don't," said Sarah MacLean of the offense's success. "Especially playing in practice, it's super competitive, and then when we come into games it's really easy to score, and we have a great serve-and-pass, so there's always opportunities for our hitters."
 
Pacing the offense was Sarah MacLean with her 12 kills. The senior was errorless on 23 swings to hit .522 in the contest. Freshman Bradley Brown posted a career-best 11 kills with a .500 hitting clip on just one error. Mary Emily Morgan rounded out a trio in double figures with 10 kills, and she added 18 digs for her third double-double of the campaign and the 11^th of her career. Bri Mahoney was not far off double-digits with seven kills of her own.
 
"I feel like it was just making smart choices," said Morgan of her double-double. "Also, we have a really good block set-up, so it's easy to get digs behind our blockers. They just do their jobs really well."
 
Laney Klika paced the defense with 20 digs. She added a pair of aces, as did Morgan. Brown and freshman Maddy Frazier each contributed one.
 
Taylor Pecht dished 22 helpers to top the team with Frazier adding 18. At the net, Annemarie Rakoski led the way with a pair of blocks.
 
"I'm really proud of them. They're doing a great job," said assistant coach Shannah Carter of the early success by the Terrier freshmen. "They're playing not like freshmen, which is great to see. I think our upperclassmen do a great job of being leaders for them. It's a really good team effort, and they're definitely showing what they're capable of."
 
The first set opened with the teams jostling for position early as Wofford led just 7-5. But Bradley Brown tallied a kill before Bri Mahoney added two of her own to stretch the margin to 10-5. The Blue Hose continued to keep pace as back-to-back Presbyterian scores made the margin 16-13 for the Terriers. A service error flipped control to Wofford, and with Mary Emily Morgan on the serve, the Terriers rattled off a nine-point run to end the set. Morgan contributed an ace in the run with Mahoney adding a kill and a block alongside kills from Maddy Frazier and Bradley Brown en route to a 25-13 set one triumph.
 
Wofford opened set two by claiming six of the first seven points, punctuated by a Laney Klika ace and Morgan kill. A four-point Presbyterian run closed the gap to 13-10, but Sarah MacLean posted a kill to kick start a three-point run for separation at 16-10. Another three-point swing shortly thereafter would lift the lead to 22-13 with Brown and Mahoney adding kills to sandwich a Morgan ace. The Blue Hose notched the next three points, but Mahoney's kill preceded a block by Annemarie Rakoski and Natalie Arnold for set point. Brown then iced the set at 25-16 with an ace.
 
Riding the momentum, the Terriers began set three by winning the first four points, capitalizing on Presbyterian mistakes by forcing the Blue Hose into three errors. Presbyterian would hang tough early by pulling within 12-9, but the Terriers then claimed seven of the following eight points to pull away at 17-10. Brown, Frazier and Ella Schomer all added kills during the run. A Sarah MacLean kill later on made the score 21-12 before Presbyterian found a rhythm with four-straight points to pull within 21-16. MacLean added another kill to end the run, and after trading a few blows, Chloe Smith ended the match with a kill to secure a 25-18 set three triumph and overall sweep of the Blue Hose.
 
After going 3-0 with three-straight sweeps to open the home slate of action, Wofford will hit the road again next weekend to participate in Appalachian State's Black and Gold Invitational in Boone, North Carolina. The Terriers will face Winthrop, Clemson and App State over the course of three days beginning with a tilt against the Eagles on Thursday, September 12, at 4:30 p.m.
 
The Wofford Invitational
Upon the conclusion of the event, the participating coaches named an all-tournament team that featured seven total players.
 
As the undefeated champion of the tournament, Wofford boasted three representatives in Bradley Brown, Laney Klika and Sarah MacLean. Klika was tabbed as the tournament's most valuable player with 71 total digs over nine sets of action for an average of 7.89 per set. She recorded at least 20 in each match, including 28 against Campbell for second most in a three-set match in program history.
 
Brown hit .596 over the weekend with 30 kills and five blocks. MacLean added 27 kills with a .451 hitting clip and three blocks.
 
The entire Wofford Invitational All-Tournament Team is listed below:
 
Wofford Invitational All-Tournament Team
Campbell
Aley Clent
Riley Dean
 
Presbyterian
Anna Baranski
 
Queens
Anna Grace Sparks
 
Wofford
Bradley Brown
Laney Klika (MVP)
Sarah MacLean