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LAWRENCE, KS – The Winthrop volleyball team dropped both matches on Friday at the Kansas Invitational, losing to the host Jayhawks in four sets (25-12, 25-21, 27-29, 25-20) and falling to the Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans in four sets as well (25-13, 21-25, 25-22, 25-23) at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center.
The two losses drops Winthrop's record to 2-6.
In its first match of the day against Kansas, the Eagles finished with 43 kills, 60 digs and a .162 attacking percentage. Senior outside hitter Kaley Viola paced Winthrop with 17 kills followed by sophomore outside hitter Carolyn Weed with 7 kills. Senior setter Kelsey Hall led the team in digs with 15 and sophomore defensive specialist Kristin Cruse followed with 14. Hall also added 35 assists. KU compiled a .273 attacking percentage and finished the match with 71 kills.
In the first set, the Jayhawks outplayed Winthrop towards the end of the set. Kansas closed out the set scoring nine unanswered points to claim a 25-12 win. The Jayhawks finished the set with 18 kills, compared to four for the Eagles.
The second Winthrop and KU were tied at 4-4 early on, but the Eagles were never able to take lead before falling 25-21.
The Eagles played better in the third set and held the lead for the majority of the set that featured 10 ties before taking a 29-27 set win. Winthrop finished with 15 kills with Viola claiming eight of those. “We started to play in the third set,” head coach Sally Polhamus said. “Kaley Viola stepped up as an emotional leader.”
In the fourth set, Winthrop claimed a 16-13 lead as it clawed its way back after being down for the entire set . However, Kansas stormed back to knot the set at 20-20, and then took by scoring the last five points for a 25-20 win in the deciding set.
Kansas was led by Karina Garlington who finished the match with 27 kills and a .458 attacking percentage.
In Winthrop's second match of the day, three Eagles finished the match with double-figures in kills as junior middle hitter Becca Toor and senior middle hitter Sara Felts finished with 11 each and sophomore middle Carolyn Weed turned in a career high 10 kills. Sophomore Kristin Cruse finished the match with 11 digs and Kelsey Hall had 10 to go along with 41 assists.
Winthrop finished the match with 48 kills, 50 digs and a .146 attacking percentage compared to UALR's 55 kills, 60 digs and .241 attacking percentage.
The first set was dominated by UALR. Winthrop never had a lead and the Trojans cruised to a 25-13 lead. UALR finished the set with a .385 attacking percentage, compared to Winthrop's .000.
“We did not respect a very good Arkansas-Little Rock team,” Polhamus added. They jumped on us in the first set.”
In the second set, Winthrop rallied and claimed a 25-21 win to even the match. The Eagles finished the set with 14 after managing only eight in the first set.
The third set featured ten ties, but a 5-1 run by the Trojans closed out the third set 25-22. Winthrop had an early lead at 9-8, but fell behind and was never able to lead again.
In the final set, the teams traded points throughout the set and found themselves in a 20-20 deadlock. Four attacking errors by the Eagles helped the Trojans close out the set and the match with a 25-23 win.
“I am disappointed in the way we rebounded after the Kansas match,” Polhamus said. "We had too many unforced errors cost us the match.”
The Eagles will close out their appearance at Kansas on Saturday when they face nationally ranked Northern Iowa at 1 p.m.
