Charlottesville, Va. – Nikkia Benitez,
Morgan Bossler and
Karli Shepherd all combined for over 20 kills on the day to help Winthrop capture wins over Akron and William & Mary on the opening day of the Virginia Tournament.
Winthrop (2-3) | Akron (3-1) | William & Mary (2-1)
Sept. 3, 2021 | Memorial Gym
Winthrop 3, Akron 0 (25-18, 26-24, 25-23)
How it Happened
Set 1 | Akron jumped out to an early 4-1 lead behind kills from Faith Johnson and Megan Kelly. Eagles responded with a 6-3 run, scoring three straight points to tie the set at 7-7. The three straight points were courtesy of kills by
Morgan Bossler,
Lily Leistiko and
Nikkia Benitez. The match was tied two more times when the Eagles took a 12-11 lead after a kill from Bossler. After the Zips tied the set at 12-12, Bossler delivered again followed by a service ace by
Madison Gorniak for a two point cushion. Winthrop never trailed for the remainder of the set. Leading 15-13, Winthrop outscored the Zips 9-1 for a big lead and went on to take the set 25-18. Winthrop hit .361 as a team in the set as Bossler had five kills on five attacks (1.000%) as well as two aces.
Set 2 | For the second straight set, Akron jumped out 4-1, but this time the Eagles used a 6-1 run for a 7-5 lead. Akron tied the set at 7-7 but the Eagles answered with back-to-back points. It was a one point set when Bossler and
Karli Shepherd had back-to-back kills for a 14-11 lead. Akron worked its way back for a 20-18 lead. Eagles responded with four straight points for a 22-20 lead behind a couple of kills from Shepherd that led to an Akron timeout. Following the timeout the Eagles scored two of the next three points to make it set point. Akron reeled off three straight points to tie the game at 24-24, but kills from Bossler and Benitez gave the Eagles the set, 26-24. Shepherd had six kills while Benitez added five.
Set 3 | The Zips led 3-1 early and held a 2-3 point lead and led 13-10 after three straight points. The Eagles scored six straight points as Bossler kicked off the run with a couple of kills and then teamed up with
Jana Owens on a block for a 15-13 lead. Akron scored four of the next six points to tie the set at 17-17. Winthrop scored three straight points to try and pull away and even led 24-20 but the Zips continued to battle. Akron made it a 24-23 lead for the Eagles after three straight points, but Bossler put the match away with a kill to take the set 25-23. Bossler and Shepherd each had five kills in the set.
Statistical Standouts
- Morgan Bossler (14 kills, .500 hitting percentage, 2 aces, 1 dig, 3 block assists)
- Karli Shepherd (14 kills, .200 hitting percentage, 2 aces, 3 digs, block solo)
- Nikkia Benitez (11 kills, .346 hitting percentage, 11 digs)
- Jana Owens (40 assists, 11 digs, block solo, 3 block assists)
Notes
- Bossler turned in the 26th double-figure kill performance with a season-high 14 kills
- Shepherd had a career-high 14 kills, the first double-figure kill match of her brief career
- Owens tied her career-high with 40 assists
Winthrop 3, William & Mary 1 (23-25, 25-16, 25-16, 25-20)
How it Happened
Set 1 | The Tribe led 4-1 in the early going and led between 1-3 points until the Eagles finally drew even at 15-15. William & Mary regained the lead and opened a three-point cushion at 20-17. Winthrop did pull within a point at 22-21 but two straight points by the Tribe put them at set point and took the set 25-23.
Set 2 | It was Winthrop that jumped out to an early lead in the second set at 3-1 and then led 7-4 after a Bossler kill and a block by
Lily Leistiko and Owens. William & Mary came back to tie the set at 11-11, but the Eagles used a 4-1 run to open up a three-point advantage at 15-12. Leading 16-14, Winthrop scored six straight points for a 22-14 lead as the run was ignited by back-to-back solo blocks from Leistiko. The Eagles finished off the set with a 25-16 win. Leistiko finished with three kills and three blocks while Owens had 12 assists, a block and one kill.
Set 3 | Winthrop got out to a 3-1 lead again as
Brookelynn Thomas and Leistiko got things started with a block followed by a service ace from Owens. The set remained close over the next few possessions, but holding 15-13 lead the Eagles opened things up. Winthrop scored three straight points and five of the next six points for a 20-14 lead. Winthrop closed out the set scoring five of the next seven points for a 25-16 win. Eagles hit .323 in the set and
Set 4 | For the third straight set, Winthrop led 3-1 in the early going. The Tribe fought back to take a 6-5 lead but Winthrop had an answer. The Eagles scored five straight behind a couple of kills by Benitez for a 10-6 advantage. William & Mary came back to tie the set at 13-13 only to have the Eagles push their lead back to three. The Tribe came back to tie the set on two more occasions with the last tie at 18-18. Owens sparked a 3-0 run with a kill and the Eagles finished off the set 25-20 as Thomas clinched the match with a kill.
Statistical Standouts
- Nikkia Benitez (18 kills, .351 hitting percentage, ace, 13 digs, 19 points)
- Brookelynn Thomas (13 kills, .296 hitting percentage, 2 digs, 2 block assists, 14 points)
- Morgan Bossler (10 kills, .429 hitting percentage, dig, block assist)
- Jana Owens (3 kills, 47 assists, 2 aces, 9 digs, block assist)
Notes
- Benitez posted a career-high 18 kills and recorded her second double-double of the day
- Benitez now has 21 double-doubles in her career at Winthrop and 25 double-doubles overall in her collegiate career
- It was also the 100th match Benitez has played in her career as she's approaching 700 career kills (688) and has 817 digs
- Owens, who tied her career-high in assists earlier in the day against Akron, set a new career-best with 47 assists
- Thomas also set a career-high in kills with 13
- Leah Metzger, who recently reached 500 career digs, finished with 24 digs and four aces on the day
- Eagles dropped the first set in the win over the Tribe, which was the first time the Eagles dropped the opening set and came back to win since Nov. 1, 2019 when they dropped the first set vs. Hampton and won 3-1
Up Next
Winthrop will complete its visit to Charlottesville, Va. as it will face the host Virginia Cavaliers on Saturday at 2 p.m.
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