Box Score

ROCK HILL, SC – The Winthrop volleyball team lost to the College of Charleston Cougars in a five set match on day one of the 2010 Carolina Challenge (25-19, 22-25, 25-16, 18-25, 8-15), Friday night at the Winthrop Coliseum.

The Eagles drop to 1-3 on the year, while the Cougars improve to 4-1 overall.

Winthrop finished the match with 61 kills, 71 digs and a .193 attacking percentage.

The Eagles were led by junior middle hitter Becca Toor who set career highs in kills and total attacks with 17 and 36, respectively. Senior hitter Kaley Viola posted her third double-double of year, finishing with 12 kills and 20 digs. Senior setter Kelsey Hall continued her chase to be the all-time assist leader by finishing the night with 52 assists.

The first set went to Winthrop who jumped out to a 10-3 advantage to start the game. College of Charleston fought its way back to bring the score to 22-19, but a kill from Toor, a Cougar blocking error and a kill from Viola gave the set to the Eagles 25-19.

The second set started off much more even for both Winthrop and College of Charleston. Both teams traded points until the Cougars went on a 9-3 run to make the score 14-9. College of Charleston continued to add pressure until the Eagles brought the score within three points at 19-16, but the pressure was too much and College of Charleston took set two, in spite of a little Winthrop rally, 25-22. 

After the intermission, the Eagles jumped out to a 6-0 run in the third set that was highlighted with kills from redshirt-sophomore right side Brittany Blackman, senior middle hitter Sara Felts and Viola. Winthrop continued its great play which included a serving ace from Harrison that hit the net and fell straight down, freezing the Cougar defense. Kills from Toor and senior outside hitter Kellie Sellers put the set away for the Eagles, taking it 25-16. Winthrop recorded 15 of its 25 points in the third courtesy of a kill.

The fourth set saw College of Charleston hold a slim lead consistently throughout the set. The Cougars   offense was the difference as they pounded out 15 kills, which was the difference as the Eagles could not contain the attacks from College of Charleston. The Cougars took the set 25-19.

“We got away from our game plan in sets two and four,” said head coach Sally Polhamus. “We committed too many errors tonight.”

In the fifth and deciding set, the two teams swapped points to start, until College of Charleston were the first team to take a convincing lead at the 6-3 mark. When switching sides, Winthrop saw itself down 8-3. The Cougars were in control for the rest of the match and took the final game 15-8.
 

“Rebounding is key,” Polhamus stated. “We not only have to rebound after a bad set, but we have to rebound tomorrow against Clemson and South Carolina.”

Leading College of Charleston offensively was Whitney Russell with 15 kills and Elyse Chubb with 14. Defensively, Emily Shelton added 21 digs and Paige Johnson finished with 20.

In the first match on Friday afternoon, the Clemson Tigers defeated the South Carolina Gamecocks 3-0. 

The Eagles will be back on the court Saturday, Sept. 4 with two matches on the final day of the 2010 Carolina Challenge. They will host the Tigers at 10 a.m. and the Gamecocks at 7:30 p.m.