Winthrop Concludes Regular-Season Play With Road Trips To Charleston Southern And Presbyterian

11/9/2022 12:34:00 PM

Rock Hill, S.C. – Winthrop aims to finish the regular-season on a four-game win streak as they travel to Charleston Southern Friday night and then visits Presbyterian the next day.
Game Information (Winthrop 15-10, 11-3 Big South)
Opponent/Date/Time/Location vs. Charleston Southern (14-14, 7-7 Big South) | Friday, Nov. 11 | 6 p.m. | Charleston, S.C/ Buccaneer Field House
vs. Presbyterian (8-18, 4-10 Big South) | Saturday, Nov. 12 | 2 p.m. | Clinton, S.C. / Ross E. Templeton Center
Live Stats Charleston Southern | Presbyterian
Live Stream (ESPN+) Charleston Southern | Presbyterian
Social Media Twitter - @WinthropVolley / @WUEagles | Instagram - winthrop volleyball | #ROCKtheHILL | #EverStand

SERIES HISTORY VERSUS PRESBYTERIAN
This is the 42nd meeting all-time between Winthrop and Presbyterian College. The Eagles have won nine straight meetings and lead the all-time series 32-9.

SERIES HISTORY VERSUS CHARLESTON SOUTHERN
Winthrop and Charleston Southern meet for the 90th time. The Eagles lead the all-time series 69-20 and have won the last three meetings and 13 of the last 15.

GLANCE AT THE EAGLES
Winthrop has nine of the last ten matches
The Eagles have played 1,772 matches all-time as the program holds a mark of 1,057-714
Eagles at 11-3 in the league are sitting in third place, a game behind both High Point and Campbell
1^st in the Big South in opponent hitting percentage (.163), blocks per set (2.31) 2^nd in kills per set at 12.75, and 3^rd in assists per set at 11.74, aces at 1.43 and digs at 15.74
Alayna Jansky leads the team with 3.69 kills per set, ranking 3rd in the Big South and 3rd in points per set (4.15)
Jansky had her 20th match with 10 or more kills on the season
Isabella Murray leads the Big South in assists per set (10.45) and is the only player in the league average 10 or more 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
Murray set a career high in kills in the UNC Asheville game
Brookelyn Thomas is 2nd on the team with 2.47 kills per set
Thomas has 22 service aces on the year, a career-high for a single-season
Thomas set a season high for kills and tied her career high in block assists in the UNC Asheville game
Avery Jolley is first on the team with 2.38 kills per set and is second on the team in hitting percentage (.246)
Alicia Roberts is ranked 2^nd in the Big South at 1.11 blocks per set
Madison Gorniak tied a career high in digs with 26 in the Campbell game
Gorniak surpassed 500 career digs. Gorniak is at 648 digs and counting, accumulating 286 of those digs this season alone
Rylie McMahen set a season highs in aces with two at Upstate
In the win over Harvard the Eagles had 12 service aces, the most in a contest since Nov. 8, 2019 when the Eagles had 12 against USC Upstate
It was the most against a non-conference opponent since Sept. 8, 2018 when the Eagles had 12 against Delaware State (3 sets)
This year's team has 12 returnees and six newcomers

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.
Gearhart joined four other coaches in Winthrop volleyball history to begin 2-0 in conference play. That list includes Chuck Rey, Julie Torbett, Sally Polhamus and Joel McCartney.
After playing collegiately at North Carolina from 2012-15 and making four NCAA Tournament appearances, she played professionally overseas before embarking on her collegiate coaching career. Gearhart worked at Tennessee during the 2018 season and moved to Akron in 2019, and both programs saw good success. The Vols reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament and the Zips qualified for the MAC tournament for the first time in seven years.

2022 SEASON HONORS
Madison Gorniak-Big South Libero Player of the Week (Oct. 31)
Matched her career-high with 26 digs and recorded five aces in a win over Campbell
Followed with 13 digs and an ace in a four-set setback to High Point
Brooklyn Thomas-Big South Player of the Week (Oct. 24)
Put down 26 kills (4.33 per set), a .357 hitting percentage, 13.0 blocks (2.17 per set) and 34.0 points (5.67 per set) in two 3-0 sweeps
She opened with 11 kills, one service ace, five blocks and 15 points in the Eagles' three-set win at Radford
Recorded 15 kills, a .519 clip, four digs, eight blocks and 19 points in Winthrop's three-set victory vs. UNC Asheville
Alayna Jansky- Big South Co-Player of the Week (Oct. 17)
Helped the Eagles win over Presbyterian with 11 kills, a .323 percentage, eight digs, three blocks and 15.0 points
Posted .353 with 15 kills, eight digs, four blocks and 17.0 points in a win over Charleston Southern
Avery Jolley – Big South Freshman of the Week (Sept. 26)
Helped the team open league play with two straight wins as she averaged 3.0 kills per set
Combined for a .417 hitting percentage in the two games (at UNC-Asheville, vs. Radford)
Posted 13 kills in the win at Asheville, a personal-best for kills in a three-set match
Alayna Jansky – All-Tournament Team (Winthrop Tournament)
Averaged 4.09 kills per set and totaled 48 points (4.36 per set)
Had four service aces, 5 blocks and 41 digs (3.73 per set)
Posted a career-high 20 kills vs. Wyoming and also had 20 digs for her first 20-20 game
Brookelynn Thomas – Liberty Tournament Best Attacker
Averaged 3.09 kills per set with a .342 hitting percentage
Totaled four service aces and 7 digs
Totaled 47.5 points (4.32 per set)
Had 15 total blocks (4 solo, 11 assisted) for an average of 1.36 per set

BIG SOUTH PRESEASON POLL
Winthrop was voted to finish third in the Big South Conference preseason poll. High Point is the preseason favorite with 81 points (nine first-place votes) while Campbell was second with 72 points. The Eagles had 61 points and are followed by USC Upstate (52), Presbyterian (43), Charleston Southern (32), Gardner-Webb and UNC Asheville (23), and Radford (18).

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