Rock Hill, S.C. – Winthrop volleyball is coming off a tough weekend in Washington D.C. at the American Volleyball Classic. The Eagles lost to American (25-22, 16-25, 28-26, 19-25, 14-16), Temple (18-28, 20-25, 12-25), and University of Ohio (25-21, 24-26, 25-20, 22-25, 8-15). Morgan Bossler continued her dominance from week 1 and Siani Yamaguchi has remained a constant for the Eagles. After a week in the gym, the Eagles are ready to bounce back this weekend with matches against Southern Miss and Georgia Southern in Statesboro. 
   
Southern Miss
The Golden Eagles are 0-7 after three weeks of play and have only won one set this season.  Ashley Berry (OH) is leading the hawks with 56 kills on the season, 2.80 kills per set. In 2018, Southern Miss finished 17-15 overall, 7-7 in conference, and lost in the second round of the Conference USA tournament. This will be the first meeting between Winthrop and Southern Miss. 
             
Georgia Southern
The host team is just 2-2 overall, their week 2 tournament, set to take place in Daytona Beach, was cancelled due to Hurricane Dorian. Georgia Southern went 1-2 in their opening weekend with losses to Mercer and Nicholls State. They picked up their second win with a 3-0 sweep of Big South member, USC Upstate. Maddie Bryant has 46 kills in 13 sets for Georgia Southern, and Landon Jones leads the defense with 52 digs, 4.00 digs per set. Winthrop leads the all-time record 6-4; Winthrop won the last meeting in five sets in 2016.

Catching Up With The Eagles
Nikkia Benitez has made an immediate impact for the Eagles, the junior transfer registered 34 kills last weekend for 2.6 kills per set. Benitez had a weekend high 14 kills, 12 digs, three aces against Ohio. Yamaguchi stood out against Ohio, finishing with 42 assists, 14 digs, six kills with zero errors, and two blocks.