Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina volleyball pulled the curtain back on the second half of Southern Conference play on Thursday night, falling in a tightly contested four-set matchup against two-time defending league champion Wofford on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center. The Terriers escaped with the tight result by scores of 25-23, 25-20, 23-25, 25-20.
Catamount freshman Tatum Sharp led the offensive attack with 14 kills as she posted a .294 hitting percentage, while also adding four digs and a pair of solo blocks. Making her first collegiate start, classmate Abbie Willis improved on her career-high from last Saturday with a career benchmark 12 kills and a career-best five digs on the defensive end. Sophomore Meleah Foster picked up a career-high four kills on five swings off of the bench on Thursday.
Junior Katie Boney led the Catamounts with 37 assists to go along with nine digs and a pair of kills. On the defensive end of the court, sophomore Halley Tang dazzled with a career-best 22 digs, followed by junior Eda Yalçinkaya with 20 digs, and freshman Samantha Kranzler, who finished with a dozen. Sophomore Courtney Graham added a team-high four blocks and also finished with four kills on the offensive end.
Chloe Smith led the Terriers with 12 kills and 15 digs for the double-double. Both Bradley Brown and Ella Coleman picked up nine kills apiece for Wofford, and Emily Normand had eight for the guests. Taylor Pecht added a double-double of her own with 21 assists and 13 digs as Maddy Frazier finished with 17 assists and nine digs for Wofford. Laney Klika led the Terriers with 19 digs, adding seven assists and a pair of aces.
At the net, Wofford totaled 18 rejections, led by Annemarie Rakoski with 12 stops and Natalie Arnold with seven blocks.
After withstanding an early 6-3 charge from the visitors, WCU responded with a quick 5-2 burst to even the opening set at eight apiece. The Terriers seized control of the opening stanza with a 10-4 run to jump out to a six-point lead, 18-12 in the later stages of the set. After a seesaw battle saw Wofford take a 23-18 lead, WCU responded late with a 5-1 burst before the Terriers closed out the 25-23 victory for the 1-0 advantage.
Wofford used the opening set momentum to take control of the second set with runs of 4-0 and 3-0 in the early stages as part of an 11-5 start to take the early advantage. The Terriers were able to maintain a six-point lead at the midpoint of the set before WCU used an 8-4 run of its own through the middle stages to trim the Wofford lead to two, 19-17. The guests closed on a 6-3 run to take a 2-0 lead overall.
The Terriers put together another strong start in the third set, racing out to a 9-4 lead before the Catamounts quickly answered the bell. WCU pulled back to within two at 10-8 before Wofford ran it back to six at the middle stages of the third stanza. The Purple and Gold methodically worked their way back into the set, cutting it to a 19-17 deficit before closing on an 8-4 spurt to extend the match to a fourth.
The early stages of the fourth set remained tight as both squads couldn't gain more than a one-point advantage before the Terriers used a 10-2 burst to race out to a 17-9 lead. Again, though, WCU quickly answered with six of the ensuing seven points before the Terriers pushed back to a five-point lead at 21-16. The two teams traded points down the stretch before Wofford claimed the 25-20 win in four sets.
Western Carolina (6-14, 2-7 SoCon) closes out the home week on Friday, Oct. 24, welcoming in The Citadel to Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center. The first serve against The Citadel on Friday is slated for 6 p.m. Friday's match has been billed as HalloWHEEn night, with fans encouraged to wear their Halloween costumes to the contest. The match with the Bulldogs is scheduled for ESPN+ (paid subscription required) and will feature live stats available on CatamountSports.com.
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