Box Score ROCK HILL, SC – Four Eagles notched double digit kills Friday as the Winthrop volleyball team earned a thrilling 3-1 victory over the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers inside the Winthrop Coliseum.
Winthrop improved to 16-10 overall and 6-4 in the conference while Coastal Carolina fell to 18-6 overall and 7-3 in the Big South. Two of Coastal's three losses have come at the hands of Winthrop.
The first set saw the two sides engage in a fierce back-and-forth battle with neither squad able to garner more than a three-point edge until the end. Coastal took the first three-point edge at 14-11. Winthrop fought back to tie the set at 18-18. The Eagles trailed by one at 21-20 before taking the final five points of the set, winning 25-21.
Winthrop was unable to defend the hot-hitting Chanticleers in the second set as Coastal hit better than .400. Coastal jumped out to an early 8-3 lead forcing Winthrop to take a timeout. The Eagles were able to battle back to within two at 14-12 but struggled to put points on the board for the remainder of the set. Coastal closed out the set on an 11-4 run to take the second set 25-16.
Winthrop used a big 9-0 run late in the third set to propel the Eagles to a come-from-behind victory. Winthrop trailed the Chanticleers 18-13 before the Eagles rattled off nine straight points to take a 22-18 lead. Coastal was unable to make any sort of comeback as the Eagles took the third set 25-22.
The fourth set was again a gripping back-and-forth affair. Coastal Carolina led by three at 15-12 before the Eagles ran off five straight points. The Chanticleers again came back to take a slim one-point edge at 19-18. Winthrop again went on a 5-0 run, taking a 23-19 advantage. The Eagles hit match point at 24-20 but the Chanticleers were able to fight off three before Brianna Gray gave the Eagles the match with her 10th kill of the contest.
Rachel Lenz led the Eagles with 14 kills and tallied six total blocks. Nikki Drost totaled 13 kills and 14 digs for her fourth double-double of the season. Alina Sopizhuk and Brianna Gray tallied 11 and 10 kills respectively. Jessie Vicic and Kelly Scott tallied 24 and 23 assists each while Maria Volstad led all players with 22 digs.
Winthrop finished with 54 kills with 50 assists and a .153 attack percentage. The Eagles totaled 63 digs, three service aces and nine total blocks.
The Eagles will host Charleston Southern on Saturday at 4 p.m. inside the Winthrop Coliseum. The contest will be the final home game for the Eagles this season and will be senior day for Jessie Vicic and Alina Sopizhuk.
