Asheville NC – Eagles (16-13, 11-5) won a thrilling five set match against Charleston Southern in the first round of the Big South Conference tournament. The Eagles came back to win the final two sets and claim the first victory of the tournament (27-29, 25-22, 22-25, 29-27, 15-13). Jace Kleffner was huge in the match finishing with a team high 17 kills (.412).

How It Happened
The Eagles made the Buccaneers work extra hard for their first set victory; CSU saw four set point opportunities before finally putting the Eagles away. Lily Leistiko finished the first set with 4 kills and an efficiency of .571.

The second set looked like it to would go CSU's way, but mini runs by the Eagles kept them in the set. After going up 15-11, the Eagles allowed the Buccaneers to go on a 5-0 run of their own, before a kill from Phoebe Wu tied the set again at 16-16. Kleffner finished the set with five kills in the last seven points and allowed the Eagles to tie the match at one set a piece.

CSU had gained the momentum in the third set, leading by as many as five points, 17-12. A late run sparked by a Siani Yamaguchi kill got the Eagles back within three, 22-19. The late surge was not enough, and CSU went up 2-1 in the match after Winthrop committed back to back attacking errors.

In the fourth set it looked like the Eagles' season was coming to an early end, they trailed by six points, 18-12. They managed to claw their way back into the set and pushed the score to 23-19. From there they rattled off four straight points to tie the set 23-23. CSU and the Eagles exchanged multiple set points before a kill from Leistiko and a CSU attacking error forced the deciding set.

The Eagles jumped out to a quick 5-2 lead in the fifth, but CSU scored six of the next nine points to take a 8-7 lead when the two teams switched sides. The Eagles once again trailed 10-7 but a CSU error and back to back Hanna Spevak aces tied the set at 10 all. The two teams exchanged points, once again notching the set at 13-13. A two-point run with a kill from Doyle and a CSU error kept the Eagles championship hopes alive.

Phoebe Wu had yet another double-double with 15 kills and 15 digs. Yamaguchi finished with 55 assists, 17 digs, four kills (.571), two blocks, and one ace, while also setting her team to a .204 hitting percentage.

Up Next
This win advances the Eagles to the second round of the Big South Conference Tournament tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. They will play the number 2, Radford Highlanders, who received a first round bye. The Highlanders swept the Eagles in straight sets in both matches in the regular season.