Asheville, N.C. – Avery Jolley and Alaya Jansky combined for 23 kills to lead Winthrop volleyball to a 3-0 win at UNC Asheville, in the Big South opener for both teams.
Winthrop (5-7, 1-0 Big South) | UNC Asheville (3-8, 0-1 Big South)
Sept. 22, 2022 | Justice Center
Winthrop 3, UNC Asheville 0 (25-23, 25-19, 25-17)
How it Happened
Set 1 |
Alayna Jansky started things off as she placed a kill down the line on the first series. The Eagles scored the first three points and led 5-2 following another Jansky kill. Asheville worked its way back to make it a one point set at 7-6, but an
Avery Jolley kill put the Eagles back up by multiple points. The Jolley kill was followed by a kill from Jansky for a three point lead. After the Bulldogs got one back, the Eagles scored four straight to build a 13-7 lead. The lead was still six at 17-11 when the Bulldogs went on a 6-2 run to pull within 19-17. After a Winthrop timeout the Bulldogs came out and made it a one point set on an Avery Loeback kill. Jansky came through with a kill to put the Eagles up 20-18, but the Bulldogs scored the next two points to tie the set. Asheville took the lead at 21-20 after a blocking error was called against the Eagles. The Bulldogs pushed the lead to 22-20 before the Eagles came back to tie it at 22-22, forcing a timeout from the home team. A double block by
Karli Shepherd and
Brookelynn Thomas put the Eagles at set point and they finished it off with a Thomas kill to take the opening set 25-23. Jansky had 8 kills in the first set to lead the offense.
Set 2 | Bulldogs jumped out to an early 3-1 lead and pushed the lead to 6-2. Eagles chipped away at the deficit and after back-to-back kills from
Avery Jolley and a kill from
Alicia Roberts the Eagles were within a point at 7-6, forcing Asheville to call timeout. Out of the timeout the Bulldogs scored two straight, but the Eagles then reeled off three straight to tie it at 10-10. Eagles forced another timeout following Jansky giving the Eagles their first lead of the set followed by a kill from
Isabella Murray to lead 13-11. Asheville came out of the timeout Winthrop kept the momentum out of the timeout and built a 19-14 lead thanks to a 4-0 run. Eagles continued to hold at least a five point lead and took the second set 25-19. Jolley led with five kills while Shepherd added four kills.
Set 3 | Jolley opened the scoring in the set with a kill. The teams went back-and-forth in the early going. Eagles trailed 5-4 when the Bulldogs went on a 5-0 run for a 10-4 advantage. Winthrop responded with four straight points that forced Asheville to call timeout. The 4-0 spurt turned into a 7-0 run to tie and regain the lead at 11-10. After the Bulldogs tied the set at 11-11, the Eagles went on another run to lead 15-11 and force another Asheville timeout. Eagles pushed their lead to 20-14 and then went on to finish off the match by taking the set 25-17.
Statistical Leaders
- Avery Jolley (13 kills, .500 hitting percentage, 4 digs, 2 block assists)
- Alayna Jansky (11 kills, .242 hitting percentage, dig)
- Isabella Murray (3 kills, 40 assists, 17 digs, 1 service ace)
- Karli Shepherd (9 kills, .304 hitting percentage, service ace, 4 digs, block assist)
Notables
- Eagles open Big South play with a win for the second straight season and fourth time in the last five seasons
- Murray's 17 digs were a career-high as she's recorded double-figure digs in four straight matches
- Her 40 assists tied her personal best in assists in a three-set match (had 40 in 3-0 win over UNCW)
- Jolley set a personal best hitting percentage when recording 10 or more kills in a match (previous best was (.393/14 kills) vs. Sacred Heart
UP NEXT
Eagles return home in two days to host Radford on Saturday, Sept. 24 at 2 p.m. The first 150 fans through the doors will receive a FREE Winthrop Volleyball Cup.
FOLLOW US!
For all the up-to-date information on Winthrop Volleyball, follow along on Twitter at @winthropvolley and Instagram at winthropvolleyball.
