The Buccaneer volleyball team came into Saturday’s home match against Wofford hoping to rebound from a loss against conference leader UTC on the road.
Both the Bucs and the Terriers gave strong performances, but in the end, the Bucs fell to Wofford in four sets, giving the Bucs their second consecutive loss.
The Bucs began the match looking a bit lethargic, giving up uncharacteristic points.
Despite the Bucs’ offensive talent, they struggled early in the first set, trailing 18-15.
Coach Lindsey Devine called a timeout, and her team responded with a 18-18 comeback.
Trailing 23-20, Devine was forced to call another time-out to try to get her team composed. The Bucs then attempted another comeback, bringing the score to 24-22.
Facing a set-point situation, the Terriers took a time-out of their own, and soon after, Wofford won the first set 25-22.
The Bucs looked tired throughout the first set.
“We mentally weren’t prepared and sat back,” Devine said. “They came straight at us, and we thought they would just roll over.”
The Bucs came into the second set with more energy, taking an early 9-5 lead.
Despite the strong start, the Bucs made errors on serves and on defense, allowing Wofford to make a comeback and narrow the Bucs’ lead to 12-11.
The Lady Bucs came out of a Wofford timeout leading 16-12. Soon, Wofford narrowed the Bucs’ lead again, this time to 20-19.
Wofford soon tied the game at 20-20, but after three errors, the Bucs took a 23-20 lead.
Facing defeat, the Terriers fought back, bringing the score to 23-22.
With only a one-point lead, Devine called another time-out to get the team focused.
After the time-out, the Bucs finished the second set with a 25-23 win.
The Bucs and the Terriers went into the half splitting the first two sets 1-1.
Much like the first and second sets, the Bucs and the Terriers came out looking even until Wofford took a 9-6 lead.
Wofford then widened their lead to 13-9, forcing Devine to call a time-out.
The Terriers continued to pull away from the Bucs, grabbing an 18-14 lead.
Devine decided to call another time-out, and the Bucs responded, narrowing Wofford’s lead to 18-16.
After a Wofford timeout, the Bucs showed renewed energy, tying the score at 19-19 and forcing another Wofford time-out.
The Bucs and Wofford went into a shoot-out that led to a thrilling finish of the third set.The Bucs came up short, losing the set 30-28.
“The bench came with great energy,” Devine said. “However, we didn’t follow the game plan.”
In the the fourth set, neither team was able to pull away until Wofford took a controlling 14-10 lead, forcing a Buccaneer time-out.
The Bucs remained composed after the time-out and battled back, bringing the score to 15-15. The score remained close as the Bucs went on to take a 21-20 lead.
Soon after, Wofford began taking advantage of the Bucs’ errors, winning the final set 25-21 and winning the match 3-1.
“We just didn’t execute like we wanted tonight,” said Khadijah Wiley.
Devine said the Bucs need to play at a higher level at home.
“We can’t take any team for granted; tonight we were undisciplined,” said Devine. “We can’t allow teams to come into Brooks Gym and steal a road win. We have to have pride on our home court.”
No Comment