Box Score

NORTH CHARLESTON, SC - The Winthrop volleyball team won its second straight Big South Conference match, defeating the Charleston Southern Buccaneers 3-0 (25-19, 27-25, 25-23) Tuesday night at the CSU Field House.

The win improves the Eagles to 5-10 overall and 2-1 in the conference, while the Buccaneers fall to 6-11 overall and 1-2 in Big South play. Winthrop has now won six straight sets dating back to Saturday's match against Radford.

The Eagles were led by senior outside hitter Kaley Viola as she fell one dig short of a double-double. Viola finished the night with 13 kills and nine digs. Senior middle hitter Sara Felts finished the night with 10 kills of her own. Senior libeiro Kelsey Harrison led the team with 12 digs and senior setter Kelsey Hall ended the night with 11 digs and 34 assists. Winthrop finished the night with 46 kills, 55 digs and .190 hitting percentage.

In the opening set, the Eagles and Buccaneers traded points throughout the set until the 16-16 mark. Winthrop went on a run to put the set out of reach as it finished on a 9-3 run to take the set 25-19.

The second set saw both teams swap points throughout the hard fought set. The two teams were even at the 20-20 mark, but Charleston Southern went on a 4-1 run to go ahead 24-21 and in position to take the set. The Eagles clawed their way back and fended off three set points to bring it even at 24-24. A kill from Amy Nokes gave the Buccaneers another set point. Winthrop prevented a set win again as a kill from Felts tied the set up at 25-25. A kill from Viola and a block from Felts and Brittany Blackman gave the Eagles the set 27-25. Going into the intermission, Winthrop had a 30 kills compared to Charleston Southern's 22.

"We had multiple players step up tonight," said head coach Sally Polhamus.

The third set started like the first two as the teams fought hard and found themselves tied at the 7-7 mark. The Eagles were the first to take a convincing lead as they were up 19-13. The Buccaneers then went on a run to take the lead at 22-21. The teams continued to trade points and the set went to a 23-23 deadlock. Winthrop would take the third and final set on back-to-back kills from Viola.

"We did a great job finishing tonight," Polhamus said. "This was a great team effort."

The Eagles will back in action on Friday, Oct. 1, when they travel to Lynchburg, VA to take on the Liberty Flames. Game time is set for 7 p.m. Charleston Southern will also be taking on the Flames in its next match, traveling to Lynchburg on Oct 2 for a 2 p.m. contest.