Lynchburg, Va. – Winthrop volleyball opened up the Liberty Tournament with a 3-1 win over Murray State before falling to Liberty Friday evening.
Winthrop (1-4)
Sept. 2, 2022 | Liberty Arena
Winthrop 3, Murray State 1 (19-25, 25-23, 25-15, 25-17)
How it Happened
Set 1 | Eagles trailed 4-3 in the early going when Murray State scored three straight to open up a 7-3 advantage. Racers doubled their lead at 16-8 after a kill by Alysha Smith. Trailing 16-9,
Avery Jolley started an Eagle run with an ace as Winthrop scored five straight to pull within two points. The Eagles were within a point at 19-18 after an
Alicia Roberts kill but the Racers close out the set to take the 1-0 lead.
Set 2 |Eagles jumped out to a 6-3 lead behind two kills by
Brookelynn Thomas. Winthrop led 11-10 when it reeled off three straight behind a kill by
Alicia Davis followed by a Davis solo block. Jolley's aces made it three straight points. Eagles led 24-20 after another kill by Davis, but the Racers tried to fight back scoring three straight points before Thomas gave the Eagles a 25-23 win.
Karli Shepherd and Davis led the team with four kills in the set and
Madison Gorniak had six digs.
Set 3 | Winthrop opened the set with a 4-1 lead, but the Racers cut it to 6-4. Eagles responded with a 6-1 run highlighted by back-to-back aces from
Isabella Murray to push the lead to 12-5. Eagles continued to have success offensively and used a 5-1 run for a 17-9 lead after a kill by Thomas. From there the Eagles finished off the Racers for a 25-15 win. As a team the Eagles hit .333 in the set as Roberts, Davis and Thomas each had three kills. Murray had 13 assists in the set as well as two block assists.
Set 4 | The fourth set was back-and-forth as the set was tied 8-8 after a kill by Shepherd. That kill sparked four straight points as the Eagles tried to pull away. It was a 14-11 lead for the Eagles when they reeled off four straight points again, half of which came off blocks. Eagles didn't let up and went on to win 25-17 to clinch the match. The team finished with seven blocks in the set alone and was led by Roberts with three kills.
Statistical Standouts
- Brookelynn Thomas (11 kills, ace, 3 digs, solo block, 7 block assists)
- Alicia Roberts (9 kills, .412 hitting percentage, 2 digs, 4 block assists)
- Isabella Murray (43 assists, 2 aces, 7 digs, 6 block assists)
- Alicia Davis (8 kills, 10 digs, solo block, 2 block assists)
- Madison Gorniak (assist, ace, 16 digs)
Liberty 3, Winthrop 1 (25-21, 20-25, 22-25, 13-25)
How it Happened
Set 1 | Winthrop raced out to a 6-1 advantage. The Flames responded by scoring seven of the next to pull within a point at 9-8. The set was tied 10-10 and the Eagles continued to hold off the Flames until they went in front 14-13 and then 15-14. A 4-0 run highlighted by back-to-back blocks from Thomas put Winthrop back on top, 18-15. It was tight the remainder of the set but the Eagles scored four of the final five points to take the set. Thomas clinched the set with her 5
th kill. The Eagles hit .303 while holding Liberty to a .051 hitting percentage. Eagles had four solo blocks in the set, three of which were by Thomas.
Set 2 | The Flames opened the set with back-to-back kills by Lydia Burts and led 6-3 in the early going. Winthrop fought back to tie the game at 6-6 after kills by Thomas and Davis, then an ace from Thomas. A 5-0 run by the Flames put them on top 13-7. A Roberts kill started a 5-2 run by the Eagles to pull within three at 15-12. It was a one point game with the Flames holding the narrow advantage at 19-18, but Liberty scored five of the next six points and eventually took the set 25-20. Jansky had six kills in the set while Gorniak had seven digs.
Set 3 | Consecutive attacking errors by Liberty to start the third set followed by an ace by Davis and kill from Jansky had the Eagles up 4-0. With the set tied 6-6, the Eagle scored five straight as Jansky's kill started the run. Winthrop scored eight of the next 10 points for a 14-8 lead. Liberty chipped away and trailing 18-13 proceeded to go on a 9-1 run for a 22-19 advantage. A Thomas kill had the Eagles within a point at 23-22 but Liberty held off the Eagles to win 25-22.Thomas had four kills in the set while Jansky added three.
Set 4 | It was a tight set and the Eagles trailed 12-9 before the Flames opened up the set with a 6-2 run. Shepherd stopped the run with a kill, but the Flames continued to finish off offensive opportunities scored seven of the final eight points for a 25-13 win. Liberty hit .433 as a team in the final set.
Statistical Standouts
Up Next
Winthrop will wrap-up play at the Liberty Tournament on Saturday, Sept. 3 when it takes on UNC Wilmington at 1 p.m.
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