GREENSBORO, N.C. – For the second straight season, the third-seeded UNCG volleyball team has advanced to the Southern Conference Tournament semifinals as the Spartans rallied from a first set loss to post a 3-1 (15-25, 25-20, 25-21, 25-13) victory over sixth-seeded Wofford Saturday night at the Ramsey Center in Cullowhee. The victory pits the Spartans in the second semifinal Sunday afternoon against second-seeded Furman. Game time is set for 4:30 p.m. and will be streamed on the SoCon Digital Network.

The victory improves the Spartans to 22-10 on the year while Wofford falls to 16-18 as its season ends. The 22 wins are the most for the Spartans since 2010. Additionally, UNCG leads the series with Wofford 25-9 and has won 16 straight over the Terriers, including three wins this year.

Sophomore Ashley Muench (Hurdle Mills, N.C./Orange) led three Spartans in double figure kills with a match-high 15 kills to go along with 14 digs. Senior Julia Westerbur (College Station, Texas/SMU) added 12 kills while junior outside hitter Jessica Brezwyn (Darien, Ill./Hillsdale South) chipped in 11 kills. SoCon Libero of the Year Katherine Santiago (San Juan, Puerto Rico) led the defense with 21 digs while league Freshman of the Year Allison Penner (Aurora, Neb./Aurora) dished out 44 assists.

The Spartans and Terriers traded points in set one until they were tied at 8-8. Wofford took a 13-8 lead as the Spartans committed five straight attack errors to force a timeout. Muench slowed the run with a pair of kills to narrow the game to 16-13 but Wofford closed out the set with a 9-2 run to take a 25-15 victory. Colleen Reilly tallied a pair of kills down the stretch while the Spartans hit -.048 in the set with 12 attack errors compared to 10 kills for the Spartans.

UNCG setteled in during set two as it held a 15-14 lead. The Spartans posted a modest 5-2 run to take a 20-16 lead before closing out the set, tying the match with a 25-20 victory. UNCG responded from the negative hitting percentage in set one to tally a .300 hitting percentage in set two with 13 kills and only four attack errors. Westerbur started to settle the Spartans as she posted five kills in the second set.

Wofford came out after the break and jumped out to a 10-4 lead as Bella Santoro posted three early kills. The Spartans did not back down though as they answered with a 15-4 run to take a 19-14 lead. Muench led the way with four kills while Westerbur added a pair of kills. UNCG was able to close out the third set with a 25-21 advantage on a Muench kill as she finished with five in the set. Westerbur continued her strong play with six kills while Santiago notched 11 digs in the third set alone.

The Spartans closed out the victory in set four as they jumped out to a 7-2 lead as Jasmine Jones (Stafford, Va./Brooke Point) added two early kills. After Wofford pulled within four at 13-9, the Spartans slammed the door shut with a 12-4 run to claim the victory at 25-13. UNCG connected with a .275 hitting percentage in set three with 14 kills as Jones and Muench each posted five kills.

Alex Holland led Wofford with 12 kills while Danni Densford posted 10 kills. Jessica Graham led the Terriers with 23 digs in the loss.

-UNCG-