SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Though it was
Wofford's home court, cheers of "Let's Go U" drowned out any
Wofford cheers from the crowd and spurred the Spartans on in their
second game of the Wofford Tournament against the host Terriers.
Upstate picked up a set in the match up before falling 3-1 to
Wofford, (17-25, 25-27, 25-19, 21-25).
Upstate (5-8) was led by Cori
Harris who found the floor on 18 kills. Also adding to the
point total was Kelsie
Queen with 13 kills, Mindy
Quimby with 11 and Morgan
Thomas with eight. Emily
Sanders notched her 11th double-double on the season
with 50 assists and 13 digs while Megan
Healey posted an additional 20 digs.
Wofford (8-7) was led by Catelyn Amende, Stacy Byrd and Amanda
Liguori who had 15, 12 and 11 kills apiece. Also assisting the
Terriers was Bekah Dorsey and Tara Gough with 33 and 20 assists,
respectively.
Upstate's Queen picked up the first point of the match off a
kill with assist to Sanders but Wofford was quick to come back and
take the lead, 5-1, before the Spartans could record another point.
Though Upstate kept the game within five points as the set came to
a close, 15-20, the Terriers picked up five of the seven remaining
points to close out the first ahead, 25-17.
During the second set, Upstate proved to their neighbors that
they were a force to be reckoned with. The Spartans put together a
5-2 initial push against the Terriers and kept adding points, up
18-14 in the middle of the set. With both teams battling for the
victory, the Spartanburg schools found themselves all tied up at 23
apiece. Though Queen put down a kill to keep Upstate alive through
25, it was Byrd who ultimately found the floor for Wofford and the
Terriers picked up the second set, 27-25.
In an attempt to put Upstate away, Wofford came out killin' it,
putting a 9-3 run on the Spartans to open the third set. Upstate,
however, was not quite ready to pack up and go home and battled
back on a 9-3 run of their own to tie it up at 12. Upstate was led
by Downey, Thomas and Harris for the remainder of the set as the
trio combined for 11 kills and took the third, 25-19.
Upstate continued to keep things interesting in the fourth set,
as the score seesawed between the Terriers and the Spartans on 12
separate occasions. Tied up at 14 even, Wofford made its move on a
11-7 run to close out the set and the match, 25-21.
Upstate will wrap up competition at the Wofford Tournament on
Saturday afternoon, 3 p.m., when the Spartans take on the Cougars
of SIU-Edwardsville.
