ATLANTA – The Wofford volleyball team put forth a fight early against Arkansas State Saturday afternoon in the first-ever meeting between the programs, but the Red Wolves were victorious in three sets ( 23-25, 12-25, 15-25). Wofford falls to 0-2 after the second day of the Georgia Tech Classic in O'Keefe Gym, and Arkansas State claims its first win of the season to move to 1-1.
 
The Red Wolves used an efficient offense, hitting .344 with 13 errors on 96 attacks while holding the Terriers to a .058 clip with 16 errors on 86 hits. Arkansas State held a 46-21 kills advantage and 41-28 digs lead. Aces were even at six apiece, but Wofford gained its advantage at the net with seven blocks to six by the Red Wolves.
 
Chloe Smith led the way with six kills for the Terriers. Natalie Arnold followed with five. Bradley Brown posted three, and with no errors on nine swings, she hit a team-best .333 on the afternoon. Starting for the first time in her career, freshman Ella Coleman posted a trio of kills, adding five digs, two assists, an ace, and a block.
 
Taylor Pecht notched 12 assists to dish double-digit helpers in her 56^th consecutive contest. Maddy Frazier added six assists. Laney Klika and Brown each notched two aces, and Annemarie Rakoski recorded the first ace of her career.
 
Defensively, Klika led the way with seven digs, and Pecht was right behind with six. Rakoski held down the net with four blocks, and Brown put forth three of her own. She is now one shy of 100 for her career.
 
The first set was a hard-fought battle. Arkansas State claimed the first point with a kill, but Natalie Arnold notched her own. Annemarie Rakoski immediately followed with a block. After a Red Wolf score, Arnold struck once more. However, Arkansas State went on a 5-1 run for a 7-4 lead. Wofford began to chip away, and the Terriers pulled level at 9-all after a block by Emily Normand and Rakoski and a Red Wolves error. Arkansas State claimed the next three points, and Wofford remained close on its heels from there. Normand's kill later pulled the Terriers within one, 17-16. After Arkansas State pulled back in front to a 22-19 advantage, Chloe Smith put home a kill, and an error followed to bring the Terriers within one again. The Red Wolves tallied a kill, but Bradley Brown did so as well. Ella Coleman then notched an ace to tie the set at 23-23. But the following two points went the way of Arkansas State, who claimed the nip-and-tuck set 25-23.
 
The second set opened with a block by Annemarie Rakoski, but the Red Wolves rallied from there to pull out to an early 9-3 lead. Wofford began its efforts to chip away as Bradley Brown's ace halved the margin at 14-7. Kills by Rakoski and Natalie Arnold brought Wofford within 16-9, but a six-point run for the Red Wolves ensued. Wofford was unable to mount a comeback from there, and Arkansas State won the set 25-12.
 
The Red Wolves rode that momentum into the third set by taking the opening three points. The Terriers began to push back, pulling within one at 4-3 with a tandem block by Bradley Brown and Chloe Smith alongside a Smith kill. The Red Wolves would pick up from there and pull out to a 17-8 lead. Brown and Ella Coleman coordinated on the block, sparking a three-point run that featured a kill from Smith. Annemarie Rakoski would record her first-career ace later in the set while adding a kill, but the Terriers were unable to overcome the Red Wolves, who claimed the set, 23-15, and the match in straight sets.
 
Wofford will conclude its stint in the Georgia Tech Classic tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m. The Terriers are set to face Ole Miss in the first leg of back-to-back matchups against SEC foes.