Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 BU Box Score
NCCU Box Score

DURHAM, NC--The Winthrop volleyball team went 2-1 in the opening weekend of the 2012 season after splitting a pair of matches on Saturday as the Eagles fell 3-0 to Bradley and rebounded to take a 3-0 win over host NC Central in the NCCU Invitational.

The Eagles faced tournament favorite Bradley in the first match of the day and suffered through a tough offensive performance in losing 25-18, 25-13, 25-22.  As a team the Eagles hit just .095 as not a single Winthrop player reached double figure kills.  Junior setter Stephanie Palmer , who was named to the All-Tournament Team, had the best individual performance for the Eagles as she finished with a .333 attack percentage on six kills.  She also added 15 assists and was credited with five defensive digs. 

Freshman Brittany Rampersad led Winthrop in total kills with eight while hitting a respectable .294 for the match.  Sophomore defensive specialist Catherine Brusie led the Eagles on defense with 10 digs. 

Bradley, which finished 3-0 in the tournament, did not have that much of an advantage on the offensive end as the Braves hit only .159, but they managed 18 more attacks than Winthrop and finished with 16 more kills (43-27).   One of the reasons for the advantage in attack attempts was the fact that Winthrop committed six errors on serve receptions while Bradley committed none.

In the win over NC Central, Winthrop got its offense in gear as it finished with a .427 hitting percentage compared to .188 for the host team.  The Eagles had only seven attack errors in 75 attempts and finished with 39 kills.  Sophomore middle hitter Jennica Mullins led Winthrop with 13 kills while freshman middle Amy Zimmer led the team with a .667 hitting percentage with nine kills.  Close behind in the offensive stats was Palmer who hit .588 and finished 10 kills to go along with 20 assists. 

Winthrop took advantage of a 12-6 advantage in service aces, including five by sophomore Jessica Codato, and compiled seven team blocks compared to just two by NCCU.

"We have a lot of work to do," said Winthrop head coach Julie Torbett following the final match of the tournament.  "Our match against Bradley was disappointing. We could not do the simple things.  We did get a good performance from Stephanie Palmer and Brittany Rampersad."

Torbett was more pleased with the performance against NCCU.  "We passed better which helped open up the offense.  Jennica Mullins was excellent and Amy Zimmer had a nice performance.  Our .427 hitting percentage was encouraging," she said.

Winthrop will face Appalachian State in its regular season home opener next Tuesday, Aug. 28, with the first serve scheduled for 6 p.m.