SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Senior Livi Weidmann posted a match-high 13 kills to lead Western Carolina volleyball as the Catamounts suffered a 3-1 defeat against Wofford at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium on Friday night. Wofford won the match by the scores of 25-22, 25-20, 23-25, 25-19.
Weidmann hit .300 in the match on her way to the baker's dozen kills, adding three digs on the defensive end. Bailey Hartsough tallied her 12th double-double of the season with 12 kills and 14 digs, while senior Eden Punch picked up a career-high 12 kills, hitting .476 for Western Carolina. Punch also had four blocks in the contest.
Sarah Janourova picked up her team-high 14th double-dip, totaling 29 assists and 10 digs as Katie Boney added 12 assists and a pair of aces, along with four digs. Ali Morris led Western Carolina defensively with 17 digs, adding seven kills on the offensive side.
Natalie Arnold led the way for Wofford with 12 kills, hitting .478 for the Terriers, as Sarah Barham and Millie Loehr each added 11 kills for the hosts. Taylor Pecht had 31 assists to lead Wofford as Emily Hodsdon added 24 helpers. Laney Klika led the defensive side for the Terriers with 27 digs, as Addison Foote finished with 19 digs.
The early part of the first set remained tight with a to a 5-5 tie early on before Wofford responded with a 7-2 spurt to take the 12-7 lead and force a WCU timeout. The teams stayed tight over the next six points before Western Carolina went on a 7-4 run to cut the deficit to two, 19-17, forcing a Terriers timeout. The Catamounts gained a 20-19 edge in the late going before a 6-2 run for the hosts allowed Wofford to take set one by the score of 25-22.
Wofford (19-7, 10-5 SoCon) started with five of the first seven points in the second set to gain the early edge before WCU answered with five of the next eight to cut the deficit to one, 8-7 in the early going. Wofford was able to stretch the lead to five, 13-8, with a 5-1 burst before WCU scored four straight to cut into the deficit once again. Wofford used a 5-2 spurt to stretch the lead to 18-14, forcing a Catamounts timeout. WCU cut the deficit to three, 20-17 before the hosts claimed six of the final nine points to win set two, 25-20.
The Terriers jumped out to an early 7-3 lead in the third set before WCU answered with four of the next six points to cut it to a 9-7 lead for Wofford. The hosts stretched the lead to six, 14-8, before six straight points from the Catamounts evened the score at 14, forcing a Wofford timeout. WCU quickly came out of the stoppage, using an 8-4 burst to push the advantage to 22-18 in the late stages. Wofford battled back with a 5-2 run before the Catamounts held on for the 25-23 set victory and made the match, 2-1.
The start of the fourth set featured six early ties before a 7-2 Terriers run allowed Wofford to gain a 16-11 lead midway through the set. The hosts continued to pressure WCU with four of the next six points, allowing the Terriers to lead 20-13 in the later stages of the fourth set. WCU cut the deficit to three out of the timeout before a 5-2 Wofford run allowed the Terriers to claim the match in four sets on Friday night.
The Catamounts close out the regular season on Saturday in Greensboro against UNCG, with the first serve set for 5 p.m. The match will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live stats on CatamountSports.com.
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