Box Score Box Score
ROCK HILL, SC – The Winthrop volleyball team took down the Liberty Flames in straight sets (28-26, 25-18, 25-20) to end a three match conference losing streak on Saturday afternoon at Winthrop Coliseum.
The win improves the Eagles record to 11-14 on the season and 8-5 in the conference as the Flames drop to 20-8 overall and 11-1 in the Big South.
Leading Winthrop this afternoon offensively was junior middle hitter Becca Toor with ten kills. Defensively for the Eagles, senior outside hitter Kaley Viola paced Winthrop for 13 digs. Following Viola was senior middle hitter Sara Felts with 10 digs, her new career high. Also finishing with 10 digs was senior setter Kelsey Hall and senior libeiro Kelsey Harrison. Hall also dished out 36 assists.
“Everyone played extremely hard today,” head coach Sally Polhamus said. “We like seeing other players stepping up in different spots.”
The Eagles finished the match with 41 kills, 60 digs and a .188 attacking percentage.
In the first set, the Flames made a run early, taking their biggest at the 13-6 mark. Slowly, the Eagles clawed their way back in the set, but found themselves with facing a set point at 24-19. Winthrop scored the next five points to tie up the set at 24-24. The teams traded points until the Eagles had a set point at 27-26. An attacking error by Flames attacker Karyl Bacon gave Winthrop the set at 28-26. The Eagles finished the first set with 19 kills and an attacking percentage of .211. Toor closed out the set with a .444 attacking percentage.
The second set saw Winthrop never trail in the entire set as they cruised to a 25-18 set win. Toor led the Eagles in kills within the set with four and Viola posted four digs.
In the third set, the teams traded points to the 10-10 mark. Winthrop made a run to open up their lead to 14-10. The Eagles kept their lead throughout the set, winning 25-20 and taking the match in straight sets. Winthrop finished the set with 14 digs and 13 kills.
The Eagles finished the match with seven total team blocks.
“I'm so happy with our blocking,” Polhamus said. “We did a tremendous job today.”
Liberty finished the match with 39 kills, 45 digs and a .115 attacking percentage.
“Liberty served well to us all match, the same thing Coastal did,” Polhamus said. “But we responded well and executed the scouting report.”
The Eagles will be back on the court Friday, Nov. 5 as they travel to UNC Asheville for a 7 p.m. showdown. The Flames will also be on the road as they travel to Coastal Carolina on Saturday Nov. 6. That match is set for 2 p.m.
