ROCK HILL, S.C. – Coming off four straight conference victories, Winthrop made it five with a sweep of Gardner-Webb inside the Winthrop Coliseum Wednesday evening.
Winthrop (16-9, 11-4 Big South) | Gardner-Webb (7-18, 4-11 Big South)
Nov. 10, 2021 | Winthrop Coliseum
Winthrop 3, Gardner-Webb 0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-16)
How it Happened
Set 1 | Gardner-Webb took the first point of the match, but Winthrop countered with four of the next five points to take the early lead. The Bulldogs tied the score before a 4-0 Eagle run capped off by a
Morgan Bossler kill stretched the Winthrop advantage to 8-4. Gardner-Webb hung close for the rest of the set, but was unable to get back even at any point. A
Nikkia Benitez kill extended the lead to 21-14 and the Eagles finished off the 25-19 first set victory on a block by Benitez and
Jana Owens.
Set 2 | Winthrop took the first three points of the second stanza and seemed poised to run away with the set in the early going, but the Bulldogs battled hard and stayed close before a 5-1 run tied the period at 12. The teams traded points before a couple Gardner-Webb errors stretched the Eagle lead to 17-14. The Bulldogs closed within one point three more times, but a Benitez kill and an attack error gave the home team a 25-22 set victory and an insurmountable 2-0 lead in the match.
Set 3 | The Bulldogs flipped the script and took an early 5-3 lead in the third set, but a 4-0 run by Winthrop, punctuated by yet another Benitez kill, seized the momentum back. Gardner-Webb tied the set at seven and was still within striking distance at 13-9, but the Eagles went on a 7-1 run to take a commanding 20-10 lead. The run was capped off by an
Alayna Jansky service ace. The Bulldogs clawed back to within 22-15, but consecutive kills from Benitez and
Lily Leistiko closed out the home sweep.
Statistical Standouts
- Brookelynn Thomas (15 kills, .400 hitting percentage, one dig)
- Nikkia Benitez (14 kills, .407 hitting percentage, six digs, two blocks)
- Karli Shepherd (nine kills, five digs)
- Lily Leistiko (eight kills, .571 hitting percentage, one block)
- Jana Owens (45 assists (career-high for a three set match), 11 digs, two blocks)
Up Next
Winthrop will take on Radford in their regular season finale on Friday, Nov. 12 at 2 p.m.
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