SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford volleyball team downed the Mercer Bears in straight sets on Friday night inside of Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium. The Terriers improve to 8-8, 4-1, while Mercer falls to 5-13, 1-4.
 
It was a balanced attack for Wofford, as no single player reached double-digit kills. Chloe Smith paced the team with eight kills while Bradley Brown, Annemarie Rakoski and Natalie Arnold each recorded six. Emily Normand tallied five. Setting the offense was Taylor Pecht and Maddy Frazier, as the duo finished with 18 and 13 assists, respectively. Chloe Smith and Caroline Przystup had two service aces each.
 
The defense found its anchor in both Laney Klika and Chloe Smith as both Terriers recorded 10 digs apiece. Caroline Przystup had nine while Taylor Pecht closed the evening with eight. Annemarie Rakoski set the tone at the net, contributing to four blocks. Natalie Arnold and Bradley Brown also made their presence felt with both players finding two blocks.
 
Set one saw the Terriers jump out to an early 3-0 lead after a Natalie Arnold kill. Mercer got on the board on the following rally, but Wofford used a couple of strong swings from Chloe Smith and Emily Normand to take a 5-1 advantage. The Bears stayed close, cutting the Wofford to lead to one point, 10-9, until the Terriers went on a six-point run to gain full control of the first stanza. Wofford would not look back, winning set one 25-15.
 
Mercer found its footing in set two, going up 4-1 early on. Despite trading points over the next few rallies, the Bears stayed in front until a Caroline Przystup ace gave Wofford its first lead of set two, 8-7. The teams exchanged leads all the way until Mercer gained a 17-14 advantage. An Annemarie Rakoski block forced a Mercer timeout and ultimately allowed Wofford to regain a 20-19 lead. That was part of a four-point swing in favor of the Terriers.
 
Wofford took the first point in set three, and the team did not look back after that. What was a 2-1 lead for the Terriers jumped out to a 10-3 advantage. Wofford would go up by as many as eight points in the stanza, ultimately taking set three 25-18.
 
The Terriers will be back at home tomorrow night as the team will take on the Furman Paladins at 7:00 PM. The match will be available to stream on ESPN+.