BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Winthrop volleyball defeated Gardner Webb by a final score of 3-0 (25-23, 26-24, 25-20) Saturday afternoon at Paul Porter Arena.
Winthrop (15-10, 11-3 Big South) | Gardner Webb (9-17, 7-7 Big South)
Nov. 5, 2022 | Paul Porter Arena
Winthrop 3, Gardner Webb 0 (25-23, 26-24, 25-20)
How it Happened
Set 1 | The first set started out with Winthrop trailing 7-6 in an early back-and-forth affair.
Alicia Roberts had two kills for Winthrop's six points in the early going. Winthrop then scored four straight points to take a 10-7 lead, with
Isabella Murray recording two straight aces. After Gardner Webb scored to make it 10-8, Winthrop ran off another five points with two
Avery Jolley kills leading the way. The home team then went on a huge run, scoring twelve of the next sixteen points to take a 20-19 lead. During the run,
Alayna Jansky had three kills to account for Winthrop's four points.
Karli Shepherd tied it up at 20 on a kill. After GW seized the lead again, a Jolley kill and a Shepherd ace gave the lead back to the visiting Eagles at 22-21. GW then scored two straight to take a 23-22 lead. But Winthrop scored the final three points to win the set 25-23. The Eagles clinched it on a GW error.
Set 2 | The Eagles came out hot to start the second set, taking an early 8-3 lead thanks to two Jansky kills and five GW errors. GW scored six straight points to take a 9-8 lead. After
Sydney Nolan tied it up at nine on a kill, the majority of the rest of the set was a slugfest, with neither team taking more than a two-point lead. Jansky had three straight kills as part of a 4-0 Eagle run to take a 15-13 lead. Trailing 23-22, a Roberts and a Shepherd kill made it 24-23 Winthrop. After GW tied it up on the next play, Roberts and a GW error ended the set at 26-24, giving the Eagles a 2-0 lead in the match.
Set 3 | Winthrop started what would prove to be the clinching set at 9-6, with two Jolley kills leading the way early. After GW scored three straight to tie it at 9, Winthrop scored seven of the next nine points to take a 16-11 lead. Jansky and Roberts combined for four kills during the spurt. GW cut it to three at 16-13 but three straight errors gave Winthrop a 19-13 lead. Winthrop would eventually seize their largest lead of the set at 22-14 following a Shepherd kill and two more GW errors. GW ended the match on an error to give Winthrop a 3-0 sweep, 25-20.
Statistical Leaders
Alayna Jansky (16 kills, 8 digs)
Alicia Roberts (11 kills, 4 blocks)
Avery Jolley (9 kills, 1 ace)
Karli Shepherd (2 aces, 2 blocks)
Isabella Murray (2 aces, 3 blocks, 39 assists)
Madison Gorniak (5 assists, 16 digs)
Notables
- Winthrop has won eight of the last nine matches
- The Eagles have played 1,772 matches all-time as the program holds a mark of 1,057-714
- Jansky had her 19th match with 10 or more kills on the season
- With the victory the Eagles lead the all-time series 38-6 overall and 25-5 in regular season league matchups. The Eagles have an eleven-match winning streak against Gardner-Webb and have not lost a set in eight straight meetings
UP NEXT
The Eagles are back in action next Friday night at 6 p.m. as they travel to Charleston Southern on a two-game road trip to conclude regular-season play.
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