ROCK HILL, SC – Senior Alina Sopizhuk tallied 18 kills and 14 digs Friday to lead the Winthrop volleyball team to a five-set victory over the Furman Paladins on the first day of the 2014 Carolina Challenge hosted at the Winthrop Coliseum.

Winthrop evened its record at 3-3 on the season with the victory while Furman fell to 1-3 on the young season.

Both sides struggled to get going offensively in the first set and were even through the first 22 points.  Winthrop was then able to go on a mini 5-2 run to grab a 16-13 edge and was able to increase it to 21-17. 

Following a Furman timeout, the Paladins went on a 6-0 run to take a 23-21 lead before a Raven Golston put a halt to the run.  The Eagles were able to swing the momentum quickly and take the final four points to win the first set 25-23.

Winthrop took the opening three points of the second set but Furman then thoroughly dominated, going on a 16-4 run before taking the set 25-11.

The Eagles fell behind quickly 8-2 to start the first set but battled back with an 8-2 run of their own to tie the set at 10-10, forcing Furman into a timeout.  Following the timeout, the two teams went back and forth with neither able to amass more than a two-point cushion. 

Furman reached set point at 24-23 but the Eagles staved off the loss with an Emma Weakland kill followed by a service ace from Rachel Lenz and a block from Weakland and Brianna Gray to take the third set 26-24.

In the fourth set, Winthrop jumped out to the 8-3 only to see the Paladins go on a 6-1 run to tie the set at 9-9.  Winthrop was then able to get a little separation with a 4-1 run.  The Eagles led the majority of the set until Furman was able to overcome a late 22-19 deficit with a 6-1 run to win the fourth set 25-23.

An early 2-0 lead for the Eagles was erased quickly by a 6-1 run from the Paladins in the fifth set.  At the court change, Furman held an 8-6 advantage.  After Winthrop trailed 10-6, the Eagles were able to take eight of the next nine points to set up match point at 14-11.  Furman was able to fight off one match point but a hitting error gave the Eagles the 15-12 set and match victory.

Sopizhuk's double-double was her second of the season.  Sophomores Brianna Gray and Emma Weakland both also finished with double-digit, totaling 10 and 11 respectively.  Senior Jessie Vicic tallied 46 assists while sophomore Maria Volstad finished with 14 digs.  Junior Rachel Lenz finished with six total blocks.

The Eagles hit .156 for the match with 61 kills and 55 assists.  Winthrop notched 66 digs and had a solid night at the netting, finishing with 11 blocks.

The Eagles will return to the court on Saturday in the second day of the Carolina Challenge.  Winthrop will face Clemson at 12:30 p.m. followed by South Carolina at 7 p.m.