CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Wofford volleyball team came out flying Thursday night inside the McAlister Field House, sweeping The Citadel in three sets (25-15, 25-10, 25-21) to dominate their opening Southern Conference game. Wofford improves to 5-7 (1-0) as The Citadel drops to 0-11 (0-1).
Wofford and The Citadel remained close on the stat sheet, mainly being separated by errors. The Terries had 36 kills to their 32, 34 assists to their 31 and 45 digs to their 41. Wofford was able to capitalize greatly on the Bulldogs' 20 attack errors, eight service errors and 10 reception errors. Wofford accumulated 10 aces for the second game in a row, betting out the Citadel's two.
Leading the efforts for Wofford was another double-digit dig match by Laney Klika with 16 on the night, followed by Caroline Przystup's eight. Chloe Smith (6), Maddy Frazier (6) and Taylor Pecht (5) contributed to the defense. Annemarie Rakoski (2.5) and Bradley Brown (2) led the way up front in an uncharacteristic low blocking game for the Terriers.
No Terrier was able to eclipse double-digit kills on the night; Natalie Arnold led the way with nine kills on a .280 hitting percentage. Brown followed suit with eight and a .500 hitting percentage. Two Terriers, Laney Klika and Frazier, found three aces each, while Taylor Pecht and Brown added two more each. Pecht reached the 20-assist mark on the night.
Chloe Smith opened the scoring for the Terriers, powering a hit into the hands of a Bulldog who was unable to control the pace. The Citadel grabbed three of the next four points before a service error gave Wofford some space to breathe. The Terriers kept things close early on, staying within two points until they grabbed the lead back at 12-11, which they kept for the rest of the set. Bradley Brown smacked the ball down to send the game into a media timeout, 15-13. Wofford came out of the timeout with two aces in a row from Maddy Frazier. After one more point, The Bulldogs called a timeout to stop the momentum of the Terriers, but it did not work as Wofford continued to dominate the first set. The Citadel was able to capture a few more points, but the Terriers went 10-2 after the first media timeout, finishing the set with a service ace.
The sophomore, Smith, found the space on the floor for the first kill in the second set as well. Wofford found momentum early in the set, grabbing the first three points before conceding a point from a service error. The Terriers responded with explosive offense, going 8-3 before the Bulldogs called a timeout. The Citadel looked for something to change the momentum in the game but only found the quick offense of the Terriers. Taylor Pecht found back-to-back aces just before the Bulldogs took their second timeout of the set. Just short of holding the bulldogs to under double digits, the Terriers finished the set with a 9-4 run, finished off with a service error from The Citadel.
The third set gave the Terriers the hardest challenge so far, as Wofford found themselves with a 3-1 deficit to start the set. A back and forth start to the set saw the Terriers wait until 6-5 for their first lead of the set. Going into the media timeout at 15-12, the Bulldogs were giving Wofford little room for error. The teams kept things close, but Wofford retained its lead throughout it all. The largest lead the Terriers held in the set was four points at 17-13, just close enough to keep pressure on. The Bulldogs went 5-4 in the next stretch but called a timeout to recoup the momentum. Coming out of the timeout, the fight continued. Every time the Terriers looked like they were pulling away, The Citadel would put one back. A successful replay challenge for an in ball from the Bulldog bench almost delayed match point to the next point, but a successful challenge for a touch from the Terriers brought it back in. While the Bulldogs grabbed another point, Arnold finished off the game to seal a sweep to start the SoCon season.
Wofford continues SoCon play on Saturday, September 27, against Western Carolina. Action in the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium begins at 6:00 p.m.
