Greensboro, NC – The Eagles achieved a perfect Saturday with two match sweeps against NC A&T and Delaware State. The Eagles had an easy afternoon win against the NC A&T Aggies, winning in three consecutive sets 25-13, 25-11, and 25-26. In the evening Winthrop downed Delaware State in three sets as well to end the day 2-0. (25-17, 25-9, 25-11).

North Carolina A&T
The Eagles started the match down 0-2 but went on a 10-2 scoring run sparked by two kills by Jace Kleffner and Sydney Gunter. The Aggies would get within three before the Eagles went on an 11-0 scoring run to push the score to 22-9. A kill from Gunter sealed the first set 25-13. The Aggies played the Eagles point for point in the second set until a set of 4-0 runs gave the Eagles a 19-9 lead, forcing NC A&T to call a timeout. Out of the timeout the Eagles recorded a 5-0 scoring run to give themselves the set point, 24-10. A Winthrop error gave the Aggies another chance but a kill from Sammie Ah Hong sealed the set victory. In set three, the Eagles never trailed the Aggies and kept up their dominate hitting performance to win point, set, match. Gunter led all players with 12 kills and an impressive .550 hitting percentage. Yamaguchi recorded 25 assists, a team high 10 digs, and set her team to a .317 hitting percentage.

Delaware State          
The Eagles cruised to an easy three set win over Delaware State. Here are head coach Chuck Rey's thoughts on the weekend. "It was a great day and another productive weekend. The Team continues to build its identity and believe in themselves. That is what preseason is about, finding who we are and trusting the process," said Rey. "Jace is starting to play an all-around outside hitter role. She showed some great power, excellent tools off the block, and timely shots. It's fun to watch her grow. Freshman, middle blocker, Lily Leistiko, continues to dominate at the net. Our incredibly intelligent biochemistry honors student shows the same smarts and awareness on the court. She processes information so quickly and anticipates like a veteran. She is evolving into the player we believe she can be, just at a rate faster than we anticipated.
"It was also great to see Sammi-Jo Ah Hong come in and prove herself offensively as well as bomb a number of aces and Jessica Young showing-off her fast arm-swing and the court experience we expect as a transfer. Our practice environment is getting more competitive and making the team better as a whole. They are a wonderful and fun group to coach."

Up Next
On Tuesday, September 11, the Eagles finally debut their home opener for the 2018 season against The Citadel at 7:00 p.m.