ROCK HILL, S.C. – Thursday evening the Winthrop volleyball team opens up its Big South Conference slate with a road contest at UNC Asheville and will turn around to host Radford Saturday afternoon at the Winthrop Coliseum.
 

Game Information -
Opponent/Date/Time/Location	Winthrop (4-7, 0-0 Big South at UNC Asheville (3-7, 0-0 Big South) | Thursday, Sept. 22 | 6 p.m. | Asheville, N.C./Justice Center Radford (4-8, 0-0 Big South) at Winthrop (4-8, 0-0 Big South) | Saturday, Sept. 24, 2 p.m. | Rock Hill, S.C./Winthrop Coliseum
Live Stats	UNC Asheville | Radford
Live Stream (ESPN+)	UNC Asheville | Radford (no stream)
Social Media	Twitter - @WinthropVolley / @WUEagles | Instagram - winthropvolleyball | #ROCKtheHILL | #EverStand
Tickets	Sept. 22 (at UNC Asheville) | Sept. 24 (at Winthrop -$5 admission)
Promotions	Sept. 24 vs. Radford (Winthrop Volleyball Souvenir Cup Giveaway to first 150 fans)

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SERIES HISTORY VERSUS UNC ASHEVILLE
This marks the 80^th meeting all-time between the Bulldogs and Eagles. Winthrop holds a 46-33 lead in the all-time series and have won two straight dating back to last season. In the last 10 meetings each team has won five matches.

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SERIES HISTORY VERSUS RADFORD
Winthrop and Radford meet for the 69^th time. The Eagles have won four straight meetings (three straight on the road), but the Highlanders lead the all-time series 42-26. In the last four meetings the Eagles have only dropped one set.

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GLANCE AT THE EAGLES

• Eagles are coming off a 3-2 win over Harvard in their last match
• Hold a 5-5 record in the last 10 Big South openers, but have won four of their last five when opening on the road
• 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)
• Winthrop as a team leads the Big South in opponent hitting percentage (.196), second in blocks per set (2.12) and second in digs per set (15.21)
• Senior Alayna Jansky leads the team with 3.51 kills per set, ranking 3^rd in the Big South
• Jansky also ranks third in points per set (3.91) and 10^th in digs per set (2.92)
• Sophomore Isabella Murray leads the Big South in assists per set (10.14) 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 most by any player in the league this season
• Junior Brookelynn Thomas set a career-high in services with six against Harvard and ranks 9^th in the Big South (.32 per set)
• Thomas is also among the Top 10 in the league (8^th) in points per set (3.16) and is 3^rd on the team with 2.30 kills per set
• Freshman Avery Jolley is second on the team with 2.33 and leads the team in hitting percentage (.235)
• Graduate senior Alicia Roberts, along with Thomas are ranked among the top blockers in the Big South
• Roberts is 2^nd at 1.07 blocks per set and Thomas is 5^th at 0.85 per set
• Junior Madison Gorniak ranks 9^th in the Big South at 3.19 digs per set (Jansky is 10^th at 2.92 per set)
• Senior Leah Metzger is coming off a 24 dig performance against Harvard and now has 870 in her career
• This year's team has 12 returnees and six newcomers
• This will be the Eagles have played 1,757 matches all-time as the program holds a mark of 1,046-711

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GEARHART GETS GOING
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.
 
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.

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2022 SEASON HONORS
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

Alayna Jansky – All-Tournament Team (Winthrop Tournament)

• Averaged 4.09 kills per set and totaled 48 points (4.36 perset)
• 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

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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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