ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The Wofford Volleyball team defeated No. 1 ETSU in a five-set thriller to earn its third-straight Southern Conference Tournament Championship on Sunday afternoon at Harrah's Cherokee Center. 

"These girls just came out here and battled," said head coach Lynze Roos. "It's a long weekend. You've got to play three really, really good matches, three in a row, and that's tough to do. I'm just so proud of them. I'm so proud of the way that they battled. And the character they showed, to battle back against a really, really good team. So, I'm just really proud to be their coach right now."

Wofford claims the title and will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Terriers become the first team since Samford to win the tournament three years in a row. 

Wofford recorded 60 kills on a .194 hitting percentage while ETSU had 70 kills on .201 pct. The Terriers totaled 56 assists to ETSU's 67. The Terriers had 81 digs to the Buccaneers' 85. Wofford edged ETSU with 14 blocks to their 10.

Chloe Smith led the way with 21 kills on the night, followed closely by Bradley Brown with 18 of her own. Taylor Pecht and Maddy Frazier orchestrated the attack, dishing out 29 and 24 assists, respectively. The duo that won the game with their blocks also dominated the stat sheet, with Annemarie Rakoski notching eight blocks while Natalie Arnold had seven. Four Terriers recorded double-digit dig totals, with Laney Klika posting a match-high 30. Caroline Przystup notched 15, and Taylor Pecht had 14. Chloe Smith rounded out the group with 10. 

Annemarie Rakoski got Wofford on the board with an early kill, but the teams would go back-and-forth in the early goings of set one. With ETSU leading 9-8, Wofford would rattle off five-straight points to take a 13-9 advantage. The Terriers would turn that into a 15-11 advantage heading into the media timeout. The Bucs made it interesting down the stretch, cutting the deficit to one point with Wofford leading 23-22. The Terriers were able to withstand the ETSU comeback attempt and take set one 25-23. 

Wofford got the first point of set two, but the teams once again traded points to start the second set. ETSU used three-straight points to build up a two- point lead right before the media timeout, but the Terriers fought back to take a 15-13 lead at the stoppage. The 5-1 Wofford run was highlighted by back-to-back kills from Bradley Brown. Despite Wofford holding an 18-14 lead, ETSU would use a 5-1 run to tie the set at 19-all. The Terriers fell in set two by a score of 25-23. 

The Terriers got on the board first again in set three by way of a bad set from ETSU. The Bucs would take control from there, as the team took a 12-8 lead that forced a Wofford timeout. The Terriers closed the gap to two points, but six unanswered points from ETSU gave the team a 19-11 lead. Wofford could not overcome the deficit, losing set three 25-17. 

Wofford held a 5-2 advantage early in set four thanks to a block by Chloe Smith and Annemarie Rakoski. A 7-2 run from the Bucs gave ETSU a 9-7 lead. With Wofford trailing 14-11, the Terriers would score three points in a row to tie the set at 14-all. The teams traded points until they were tied up at 19 apiece, then Wofford broke away, grabbing six straight to send the teams into a fifth set.

Wofford snagged the first point of the set, before the Buccaneers would go on a 5-1 run. A timeout for the Terriers would help reset the team, propelling the Terriers to a 6-0 run led by three kills from Chloe Smith. ETSU continued to fight its way back into the match, going on another five-score run to gain a 13-11 lead over Wofford. However, the Terriers would be the first team to send the game into match point with blocks from Annemarie Rakoski and Natalie Arnold. ETSU grabbed the next two rallies to get its own match point, but two from the Terriers would grab the match point back for themselves. After a Caroline Przystup serve, the return volley was blocked once again by Arnold and Rakoski to call the match and secure the three-peat championship for Wofford, 17-15.

The Terriers become the fourth-team in Southern Conference history to win three-straight tournament championships. Wofford closes the season 17-13 and will await the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday, November 30, to find its next opponent.