Wofford volleyball to host 2019 Southern Conference Championship
As the 2019-2020 volleyball regular season wraps up in late Nov. for the Wofford Terriers, the Southern Conference tournament inevitably follows. For the first time, the SoCon tournament will be held on Wofford’s campus in the main arena of the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium where, in the smaller gym, the Terriers finished with a home record of 10-2 and an overall record of 15-14. Senior setter and Setter of the Week award winner Lorissa King attributes the team’s home success—including five 3-0 home matches—to “ just confidence and comfort.”
King: “This place being where we practice, we know every spot, every light, every feeling.”
Head Coach Lynze Roos cites the tightness of the smaller gym, the crowd, and the Terriers’ aggression as reasons for the team’s winning performances.
“It’s different because we’re gonna be playing the main arena,” Roos says, “so you don’t have your true home-court advantage as in [the smaller] court. But being in our arena, being in our own locker room hopefully gives our girls that sense of owning the locker room and controlling the things that we can.”
Despite the potential advantage that hosting the tournament brings, King still describes her final season as “bittersweet” and “kind of a roller coaster.”
In addition to King, Wofford’s team features three other seniors—Kara Shacklette, Kelly Bossert and Catie Cronister. Roos speaks very highly of her four experienced seniors, who she said are “outstanding Wofford citizens.” Not only mentioning their GPAs, Roos cites their collective accomplishments, such as Kara Shacklette’s previous Freshman of the Year honors and Catie Cronister’s SoCon Player of the Year honors, as indicators of how well-rounded they have been in their time at Wofford.
“They were committed so much to Wofford,” Roos says, “and that’s what’s cool about all of them: they wanted to be Wofford Terriers. The pride that they’ve had in the school and in the program started from the moment they were still in high school. When they got on campus, there was a lot of expectation for that class, and they’ve really come in and handled that.”
Another large factor in Wofford’s success on the court this season has been the contributions of a group of underclassmen: Kennedy Smith, ’23, Chasidy Sharpe, ’23, Meghan Yaffa, ’22, and Claire Meier, ’22. King describes the foursome as being great teammates, being great leaders, and having great voices. Coach Roos, in agreement with King, also spoke glowingly of her players.
Roos: “Kennedy has come in and really made an impact in what’s been a fabulous addition for us as far as ball controlling. [Chasidy] has just been an outstanding defender. [Meghan Yaffa], we knew she was a spectacular athlete, but now with her game coming together, she’s just a huge threat at the net. Claire Meier, who’s played in the middle quite a bit…she’s just gone out and destroyed people and it’s been awesome.”
The Southern Conference tournament will begin on Friday, Nov. 22 at 12 p.m. Matches will be consecutive; the Terriers’ first match has been determined, but after this article was sent to the printer. All fans, students, and faculty are encouraged to attend and support Wofford volleyball’s pursuit of a SoCon championship.