Rock Hill, S.C. – Winthrop volleyball is set to face second-seeded High Point in the semifinals of the Big South tournament on Saturday, Nov. 19 at 5:00 p.m. The match will be held on High Point's campus inside the Millis Athletic Center, the site of all 2022 tournament contests. With a win, the Eagles will face the winner of first-seeded Campbell or fourth-seeded Charleston Southern on Sunday, Nov. 20.
Game Information (Winthrop 16-11, 12-4 Big South)
Opponent/Date/Time/Location vs. High Point (21-9, 14-2 Big South) | Saturday, Nov. 19 | 5 p.m. | High Point, N.C. /
Millis Athletic Center
Live Stats Big South
Live Stream (ESPN+) Big South
Social Media Twitter -
@WinthropVolley /
@WUEagles | Instagram -
winthropvolleyball | #ROCKtheHILL | #EverStand
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS HIGH POINT
Winthrop and High Point meet for the 64th time. The Eagles lead the all-time series 39-24 but have dropped the last five meetings. The last meeting came Oct. 29 in Rock Hill with the Panthers winning 3-1.
GLANCE AT THE EAGLES
Winthrop has won ten of the last twelve matches
The Eagles have played 1,774 matches all-time as the program holds a mark of 1,058-715
Eagles at 12-4 in the league are sitting in third place, a game behind both High Point and Campbell
First-team all-conference performer
Alayna Jasnky is second in the Big South in kills per set with a 3.68 mark and third in the league in points per set with 4.13. Second-team all-conference performer
Isabella Murray is first in the Big South and 47th in the country in assists per set at 10.35 and sixth in team hitting percentage at .168 and team kills per set at 0.66 while honorable mention all-conference performer
Brookelynn Thomas is fifth in the conference blocks with 0.93 and sixth in points per set with 3.40.
BIG SOUTH TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Eagles have won the Big South tournament crown six times, most recently in 2019 when they also won the regular season championship. Winthrop has also appeared in the championship match on four other occasions, finishing as the runners-up.
INTERIM HEAD COACH HEATHER GEARHART
Heather Gearhart was promoted to interim head volleyball coach in July after previous head coach
Chuck Rey became the full-time athletic director. Gearhart served as the assistant coach for the Eagles in 2021, helping Winthrop to 18 wins and an appearance in the conference tournament semifinals.
ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS
Five players were named to the 2022 Big South All-Conference teams. Senior outside hitter
Alayna Jansky, redshirt freshman setter
Isabella Murray, sophomore outside hitter
Karli Shepherd, junior middle blocker
Brookelynn Thomas, and freshman rightside hitter
Avery Jolley were honored after helping the Eagles to a 16-11 overall and 12-4 conference record and a 3rd place league finish.
Jasnky was named first team all-conference after an outstanding season that saw her finish second in the Big South in kills per set with a 3.68 mark. She also ranked third in the league in points per set with 4.13. In the Winthrop Tournament on Oct. 1, Jansky posted a career-high 20 kills vs. Wyoming and also had 20 digs for her first 20-20 game. She had 22 matches with 10 or more kills. She finished the season with 43 blocks, 252 digs, and 18 service aces.
Murray was also named second team all-conference in which she finished first in the Big South and 47th in the country in assists per set at 10.35 and sixth in team hitting percentage at .188 and team kills per set at 0.66. Her efforts also netted her a spot on the all-freshman team and being named freshman of the year. Murray is Winthrop's first Big South Freshman of the Year honoree since 2005 and fourth overall. Murray is the only player in the league to average 10 or more assists per set. Murray's 53 assists in the win over Wyoming are the third most by any player in the league this season but the most for a four-set match. She recorded 248 digs for an average of 2.56 per set. She also had 54 blocks and 26 service aces on the season. In Big South matches, she was the league-leader with 578 assists and 10.51 assists per set while helping the Eagles finish with the second-highest hitting clip at .233. She also tallied 150 digs and 33 blocks in conference action.
Jolley garnered honorable mention and all-freshman honors after a season that saw her notch 2.33 kills per set and is third on the team in hitting percentage at .231. Jolley also had 68 digs, 182 kills, 27 blocks, and 20 service aces on the season.
Thomas took honorable mention all-conference honors after finishing fifth in the conference blocks with 0.93 and sixth in points per set with 3.40. She also finished third on the team with 2.51 kills per set. Thomas has 25 service aces on the year, a career-high for a single-season. Thomas set a season high for kills (eight) and tied her career high in block assists (eight) in the UNC Asheville game on Oct. 22.
Shepherd continued her stellar play in her sophomore campaign and earned honorable mention all-conference for the second straight season. Finishing fourth on the team with 141 kills (1.72 per set), her crowning performance came against UNC Asheville on Oct. 22 at home, recording 11 kills, one assist and 13 points. Shepherd finishes with 74 digs, 31 blocks, and 11 service aces on the year.
Senior defensive specialist
Leah Metzger was named to the all-academic team after finishing the season with one kill, 24 assists, five service aces, 201 digs and six points in 27 matches played. She was third on the team in assists per set at 0.24 and fourth on the team in digs per set at 2.07. This is the first honor of any kind for Metzger. Her best performance of the season came against Harvard at Duke's famous Cameron Indoor Stadium in which she posted two points, two aces and 24 digs.
FOLLOW US!
For all the up-to-date information on Winthrop Volleyball, follow along on Twitter at @winthropvolley and Instagram at winthropvolleyball.
