Wofford College Athletics

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford College volleyball team fell in four sets to the University of South Carolina on Saturday afternoon in front of a record-setting 1,242 fans. The Terriers lost sets one and three by a combined four points. Wofford falls to 5-3 while South Carolina improves to 6-2.
 
Chloe Smith led the team with a season-high 21 kills on a .391 hitting percentage. Smith also posted three service aces and seven digs. Bradley Brown followed behind with 13 kills on a .722 hitting percentage. Natalie Arnold rounded out the group with 10 kills and seven digs. Taylor Pecht dished out a season-high 32 assists along with 21 from Maddy Frazier. Frazier added five kills as well.
 
Laney Klika paced the defense with 20 digs on the afternoon. Maddy Frazier had nine. Natalie Arnold and Bradley Brown led the efforts at the net, rejecting three South Carolina attacks each.
 
Wofford totaled 65 kills on a .295 hitting percentage while South Carolina had 57 kills on a .344 hitting percentage. South Carolina finished the day with six aces to Wofford's five. Both teams posted seven blocks apiece.
 
Wofford went up 5-3 early in set one, but a 4-1 run from the Gamecocks put South Carolina up 7-6. Both teams traded points from there until Wofford scored four-straight points to regain a 13-10 advantage. Wofford continued to hold a lead from there, with South Carolina trailing 22-19 later in the set. The Gamecocks responded, however, tying the stanza at 22-all. The Terriers later held match point at 27-26, but South Carolina would not back down. The Gamecocks eventually took set one 30-28.
 
South Carolina continued the momentum in set two, taking a 4-2 lead. Five-straight points later in the stanza allowed the Terriers to take a 9-5 lead, however. Despite the Gamecocks cutting the lead to one point, 12-11, Wofford continued to hold an advantage. A 6-1 run gave the team a 20-13 lead. The Terriers would win set two 25-18.
 
Once again the Gamecocks started set three ahead with another 4-2 advantage. The Terriers continued to respond, taking a 10-7 lead. Wofford held that three-point lead all the way until 23-20, when South Carolina went on a 5-0 run to win set three 25-20.
 
Wofford started set four ahead as the team led 6-5 early on. After a few lead changes, South Carolina rattled off six-straight points to take a commanding 13-8 lead. Wofford responded with two-straight points, but the Gamecocks answered with three points of their own to get the lead back out to six. The Terriers could not overcome the deficit, losing set four 25-17 and the match 3-1.
 
Wofford will look to bounce back against the Clemson Tigers tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 p.m. The match can be streamed live on ESPN+.