Box Score
BOILING SPRINGS, NC – The Winthrop volleyball team dropped a five-set heartbreaker Thursday afternoon to the Presbyterian College Blue Hose in the Big South Conference Tournament Quarterfinals.
Winthrop, the fifth seed, finished its season with a 14-16 overall record. Presbyterian, the fourth seed, improved its record to 13-17 overall and will advance to take on the top-seeded Liberty Flames Friday in the tournament semi-finals.
Winthrop came out very strong in the first set and had a tremendous blocking performance, racking up seven blocks in the opening set. The Eagles took an early 5-2 lead before Presbyterian battled back to grab a 7-5 lead. Winthrop took back the lead at 8-7 and then didn't relinquish it. Winthrop's largest lead came at 17-11 and had set point at 24-21. Presbyterian fought off three set points before the Eagles own the first set 25-23.
The Blue Hose were able to hit through the Eagle block in the second set. The two teams battled back and forth through the first 20 points of the second set with neither team grabbing more than a two-point edge. Presbyterian slowly increased its lead and grabbed an 18-15 edge, forcing Winthrop to take a timeout. The break didn't give the Eagles the spark they needed as the Blue Hose were able to maintain their momentum and take the second set 25-20.
Winthrop had little effort in the third set as the Blue Hose rolled to a 15-25 victory.
The Eagles had a strong start to the fourth set, but Presbyterian battled back. Down, 13-11, Winthrop called a timeout and slowly cut down the Blue Hose lead to 18-17 before Presbyterian took a timeout. The break didn't slow down the Eagle attack as they continued on an 8-2 run to close the fourth set, winning 25-20.
In the decisive fifth set the Eagles had the early 2-1, but Presbyterian rattled off three-straight points to take a 4-2 lead and never let Winthrop get back into the set. Presbyterian took the fifth set 15-8.
Rachel Lenz, All-Freshman Team selection, led the Eagles with 13 kills. Second-Team All-Conference honorees Jennica Mullins and Stephanie Palmer finished with 11 and 10 kills respectively. Palmer grabbed her 19th double-double of the season, amassing 29 assists. Sophomore Catherine Brusie had a season-high 33 digs.
