ROCK HILL, SC – The Winthrop volleyball team closes out its stretch of tournaments this weekend at the Deacon Classic hosted by Wake Forest.
The Eagles will take on the host Demon Deacons Friday at 7 p.m. On Saturday Winthrop will face Elon at 11 a.m. and Western Carolina at 5 p.m.
Winthrop is coming off a convincing 3-0 sweep of the Davidson Wildcats Tuesday night at the Winthrop Coliseum. The Eagles hit a season-high .353 as senior Alina Sopizhuk led the team with 12 kills.
Sopizhuk leads the Eagles and is ninth in the conference, averaging 3.12 kills per set. Sophomore Emma Weakland is second on the team with 131 kills this season. Junior Rachel Lenz has been stellar on the block this season as she leads the Big South with 63 total blocks, an average of 1.31 per set.
Wake Forest enters the weekend with an 8-3 overall record. The Demon Deacons fell to Oklahoma Thursday evening and went 2-1 last weekend at the College of Charleston Tournament. Wake Forest downed Cal State Fullerton and Stetson but lost to the host Cougars.
Senior Jazmen Russell leads the Demon Deacons with 164 kills, averaging 4.21 per set this season. Junior Matalee Reed is second on the team, averaging 2.03 kills per set with a .403 hitting percentage. Senior Danae Rosendall is the team's primary setter, averaging just shy of 10 assists per set. Wake Forest has allowed opponents only a .196 hitting percentage this season.
The Elon Phoenix, Saturday's first opponent, are 4-7 this year and snapped a three-game losing skid by sweeping North Carolina A&T on Wednesday evening.
Elon has had offensive contributions from numerous players this year as three different players have 80 or more kills. Freshman Sydney Busa leads the team with 102 in 11 matches played. Defensively, Busa is second on the team with 29 total blocks while sophomore Ally Karle leads the Phoenix with 34 blocks.
Western Carolina enters the weekend with a 5-5 overall record and are coming off a 3-0 sweep of the UNC Asheville Bulldogs in a mid-week contest.
Seniors Jordan Timmerman and Caitlin Piechota lead the Catamounts offensively with 124 and 100 kills respectively. Jo-Leigh Vervelde and Cristina Nazario have almost evenly split the setting duties this season. On the block, junior Nicole Ford has averaged 1.40 blocks per set this year.
Following the weekend tournament the Eagles will open up conference play on the road. Winthrop will head to Coastal Carolina on Friday, September 27 before heading to Charleston Southern on Saturday, September 28.
