Rock Hill, S.C. – Brookelynn Thomas,
Alayna Jansky and
Avery Jolley combined for 33 kills to help lead Winthrop to a 3-0 victory over USC Upstate, Saturday afternoon in Big South Conference volleyball action.
Winthrop (8-9, 4-2 Big South) | USC Upstate (6-13, 3-3 Big South)
Oct. 8, 2022 | Winthrop Coliseum
Winthrop 3, USC Upstate 0 (25-12, 27-25, 25-9)
How it Happened
Set 1 | Eagles jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead, four of the points coming off kills from
Alayna Jansky (2),
Avery Jolley and
Isabella Murray. A kill by Jansky and a block by
Brookelynn Thomas and
Karli Shepherd pushed the lead to 7-2. Leading 7-3, the Eagles scored four of the next five points as
Alicia Roberts finished with a kill for an 11-4 advantage. Upstate pulled within 15-9 but the Winthrop offense continued to gel as a 5-0 run extended the lead to 20-9. Leading 21-11 the Eagle scored four of the final five points behind kills from Shepherd and Jolley. Shepherd clinched the set 25-12 with an ace. Eagles hit .432 in the set while Jansky led with four kills while Jolley, Thomas and Shepherd had three.
Set 2 | Upstate led 2-1 in the early going but a 6-0 run by the Eagles put them ahead 7-2. It started with a kill by Jansky and was capped off by back-to-back kills from Thomas. Eagles led 21-14 when Upstate mounted a comeback. The Spartans scored four straight to pull within 21-18 and force a Winthrop timeout. Out of the break the Spartans got one more to make it a two-point set. A kill by Jolley put an end to the run but Upstate countered with another run to tie the set at 22-22. After a Winthrop timeout, Roberts finished off a set from Murray to regain the lead 23-22. The Spartans scored two straight for a 24-23 edge. Winthrop trailed again at 25-24 but scored the final three points to take the set 27-25. It started with a kill by Thomas followed by kills from Murray and Shepherd. Thomas led with six kills while Jolley had four.
Set 3 | Winthrop scored the first seven points of the third set. Winthrop pushed the lead to 11-2 before Upstate closed it to seven points at 13-6. That was as close as the Spartans would get again as the Eagles went on a 8-0 run for a 21-6 advantage. The run included two kills from Roberts and Jansky as well as a kill from Shepherd, Jolley and
Riley Oglevie. The Eagles went on to take the set 25-9. Thomas led the way with five kills.
Statistical Leaders
- Brookelynn Thomas (12 kills, .320 hitting percentage, ace, 3 digs, 2 block assists)
- Alayna Jansky (11 kills, 233 hitting percentage, ace, 7 digs, block assist)
- Avery Jolley (11 kills, .391 hitting percentage (3 digs)
- Isabella Murray (4 kills, 40 assists, 10 digs, block assist)
Notables
- Thomas now has 19 service aces on the year, a career-high for her in a single-season
- Madison Gorniak led the Eagles with 14 digs and has 11 or more digs in 10 straight matches
- Murray tied her career-high in kills with four while tying her career-best with 40 assists in a three set match
- Eagles held the Spartans under 10 points in the third set, which is the second time the Eagles have held a Big South opponent below 10
- The last time these two teams met on Oct. 30, 2021 the Eagles also held the Spartans under 10 in the final set of a 3-0 win (25-8)
UP NEXT
Eagles remain at home as they will host Presbyterian College on Thursday, Oct. 13 at 6 p.m. and Charleston Southern on Friday, Oct. 14 at 6 p.m.
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