www.winthropphotos.com

ROCK HILL, SC – The Winthrop volleyball team cruised to a 3-0 sweep of the USC Upstate Spartans Tuesday evening in the team's final non-conference contest of the season.

The victory improved Winthrop's record to 12-6 overall and extended the team's winning streak to eight matches, its longest since 2006.

Winthrop led by a slim margin early only to see USC Upstate come back and take a 5-4 advantage.  Winthrop responded and took a 14-9 lead forcing the Spartans to call a timeout.  Out of the break, Upstate slowly cut into the Eagle lead and eventually tied the set at 16-16.  The Eagles then closed the set on a big 9-1 run behind the service of Rachel Lenz and Jessie Vicic to win the set 25-17.

The Eagles cruised in the second set.  After a 4-4 tie, Winthrop took the next six points to go up 10-4 and never looked back.  The Eagles closed the second set on a 9-2 run, winning 25-11.

Winthrop left little to chance in the third set, going on a 15-3 run turning a 4-3 lead into a 19-6 advantage en route to taking the final set 25-11. 

The Eagles got solid performances up and down its lineup.  Senior Alina Sopizhuk led the Eagles with 10 kills while freshman Nikki Drost added nine and junior Rachel Lenz finished with eight.  Lenz also led the Eagles on the block, totaling two solo and four assisted blocks.  Sophomore Kelly Scott recorded six kills on eight attempts with no errors for a .750 hitting percentage and also added 14 assists.

Winthrop hit .327 as a team with 49 kills and only 15 errors.  The Eagles notched 44 assists, 51 digs and 10 total team blocks including seven in the final set.

Winthrop will return to conference play on Friday at 7 p.m. when the Eagles play host to the Presbyterian College Blue Hose inside the Winthrop Coliseum.