Charlottesville, Va. – Winthrop captured a third straight victory after defeating Virginia in three sets, Saturday afternoon in the final match of the UVA Tournament.
Winthrop (3-3) | Virginia (3-2)
Sept. 4, 2021 | Memorial Gym
Winthrop 3, Virginia 0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-18)
How it Happened
Set 1 | Winthrop opened an early 4-2 advantage, but the Cavaliers did work their way back to tie the game at 6-6. Eagles responded with four straight points behind kills from
Nikkia Benitez and
Lily Leistiko to lead 10-6. After side out by Virginia, the Eagles reeled off three more points for it largest lead of the set, 13-7. Virginia cut the deficit to 16-11, but the Eagles continued to roll as
Morgan Bossler recorded kills on three consecutive plays to start a 5-0 run and a 21-11 advantage. The Cavaliers did cut the deficit in half at 23-18, but the Eagles finished off the set with a Benitez kill and block by Leistiko and
Brookelynn Thomas. Eagles hit .234 while holding Virginia to .102. Karli Shepher and Benitez led the Eagles with five kills each in the set.
Madison Gorniak had nine of Winthrop's 28 digs in the set.
Set 2 | Grace Turner and Mary Shaffer had back-to-back kills as UVA jumped out to a 5-1 lead. The Eagles trailed 8-4 when a 5-0 run put them in front as Bossler capped off the run with a service ace. Leading 12-11, Winthrop put together another run as it reeled off six consecutive points for an 18-11 lead. Thomas started the run with a kill and topped it off with back-to-back kills. The Cavaliers tried to scratch away at the deficit but the Eagles held firm with at least a four-point cushion the rest of the set. Bossler's kill clinched a 25-20 win for the Eagles.
Set 3 | The teams traded points in the beginning as the set was tied 4-4. Winthrop scored three straight points as Benitez had two kills and in between teamed up with Leistiko for a block. Winthrop went on to score seven of the next nine points and 13 of the next 17 as they it 17-8. UVA responded with a 4-0 run and seven of the next nine points to cut the Winthrop advantage down to 19-16. Eagles had an answer of their own scoring six of the final eight points of the set for a 25-18 win. Benitez had a team-high six kills in the final set.
Statistical Standouts
- Nikkia Benitez (15 kills, .323 hitting percentage, 2 assists, ace, 15 digs, block assist, 16.5 points)
- Brookelynn Thomas (10 kills, .562 hitting percentage, dig, 2 block assists)
- Jana Owens (kill, 35 assists, ace, 5 digs, block assist)
Notes
- This was the Eagles first win vs. an ACC opponent since it defeated Wake Forest 3-1 in 2014
- Benitez led the team in kills for a second straight match and surpassed 700 for her career (709)
- Benitez had a season-high 15 digs and tied Leah Metzger (15) with the team-high
- Metzger also had a career-best four service aces and has seven total in the last two matches
- Winthrop, the only undefeated team at the tournament, dropped just one set on the weekend and the nine sets it won were by an average of 5.4 points
- Owens and Benitez were named to the UVA Tournament All-Tournament Team and Benitez was named the MVP
Up Next
Winthrop will host East Tennessee State in its home opener on Friday, Sept. 10 at 6 p.m. The Eagles and the Buccaneers will play each other twice on the weekend as the second matchup will be Saturday, Sept. 11 at 2 p.m.
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