Boiling Springs, NC – The Eagles opened conference play with a 3-1 road win over Gardner Webb. This win puts the Eagles 5-8 on the season and Gardner Webb drops to 5-8. The win was sparked by a dominate Winthrop block; the team had a total of 15 blocks and held the Gardner Webb offense to just a .027 hitting efficiency.

How It Happened
In the first set the Eagles jumped to a 3-1 lead but a 5-0 run by Gardner Webb put them down 3-6 until a kill by Sydney Gunter stopped the run and sparked a 6-0 run for the Eagles. Three consecutive blocks would push the lead to 16-12 but a string of errors allowed the Runnin' Bulldogs to take the lead 16-17. The Eagles continued to commit errors and could not get going offensively, allowing Gardner Webb to win the first set 21-25.

The two teams exchanged the first ten points of the second set until a 7-0 scoring run put the Eagles up 17-10. The Runnin' Bulldogs fought their way back into the set but dominate kills by Makayla Doyle, Jace Kleffner, and Gunter would put the set away, 25-19.

The Eagles ran away with the third set leading by as much as 12 points. Gardner Webb struggled with tough serving by the Eagles and dominating net play did not allow them to get into a rhythm offensively. The Eagles took the third set 25-13.

In the fourth set the Eagles went on two separate 7-0 runs but the Runnin' Bulldogs were not going away. They fought their way back to tie the set twice at 10-10 and 24-24. Lou Rosario came off the bench and made an impact for the Eagles with four kills and two block assists in the final set. Doyle and Siani Yamaguchi had the final match point block and Yamaguchi followed with a match winning kill.

Middle blockers, Lily Leistiko and Doyle, had 7 and 8 kills respectively and both registered 6 block assists. Leistiko had a team high hitting efficiency of .385.

Up Next
Next up in Big South play is High Point University on Saturday, September 22. The Eagles take on the Panthers at the Millis Center on High Point University's campus at 2:00 p.m.