Raleigh, N.C. – Winthrop volleyball lost in five sets to Howard on the second day of the Summit Hospitality Group Open in a thrilling contest by a final score of 3-2 (25-21, 25-20, 25-27, 21-25, 11-15) at Reynolds Coliseum on the campus of North Carolina State University.
Winthrop (0-5, 0-0 Big South) | Howard (3-2, 0-0 MEAC)
Sep. 1, 2023 | Reynolds Coliseum
Winthrop 2, Howard 3 (25-21, 25-20, 25-27, 21-25, 11-15)
How it Happened
Set 1 | Winthrop jumped out to a quick 6-4 lead to start the afternoon, with five of the six points coming on Bison errors. The other was on a kill by
Karli Shepherd. Howard went up by four at 12-8 by scoring eight of the next ten points, forcing a Winthrop timeout. The Bison then tacked on one more point following the break before the Eagles tied the game with a 5-0 run on a kill by
Avery Jolley, three Bison errors and an ace by
Brookelynn Thomas. Howard went back up 14-13 but
Isabella Murray tied it again on a kill. With the Eagles trailing 17-14, Winthrop closed out the first set on an 11-4 run via an error against Howard, three kills and an ace by
Rachel McCollum, two kills by Shepherd and three kills by Thomas. This gave Winthrop the lead for good in the set. After one more Howard point, Murray gave Winthrop a 1-0 lead in the match on a kill.
Set 2 | Winthrop came out firing on all cylinders to start the second set, taking a 10-6 lead on three Bison errors, two kills each by Jolley and
Alicia Roberts, and a kill each by Thomas, Shepherd and McCollum. This forced Howard to call a timeout. The Eagles continued their display of offensive firepower following the stoppage of play, with Murray getting a kill and an ace on consecutive plays. Shepherd and Jolley also each registered another kill to their stats, as the Eagles eventually went up 15-9. But Howard scored the next four points and Winthrop decided to talk things over. After the timeout ended, kills by Thomas, Jolley, McCollum and a Bison error keeping Winthrop in the lead at 19-16. The Bison cut it to one two plays later but two errors and a kill by Jolley give Winthrop a four-point edge, 22-18, forcing Howard to call for time once again and putting the Eagles within three points of taking the second set. Winthrop then scored three of the last five points to take a 2-0 lead in the match, with Thomas ending the set on a kill.
Set 3 | The third set started out with Winthrop in a back-and-forth affair with the two teams splitting the first ten points. Howard called for time after a kill by Thomas put the Eagles ahead 6-5. Winthrop kept it up after the break, going on to take a 12-7 lead on two kills by Thomas, Shepherd, a pair of Bison errors and an ace by McCollum. The Bison then seized a 15-12 lead with an 8-1 run. Trailing by three, Winthrop quickly rallied to tie it at 15 on a kill by Roberts, an error against Howard and a Jolley ace only to see the Bison go up four on the next four plays, forcing an Eagle timeout. Winthrop cut the lead in half on a kill by Shepherd and an ace by
Alyah Cadavid but the Bison took the lead back up to four at 21-17. Winthrop gave it one last push in the set, tying it at 21 on a kill by Thomas, an ace by McCollum and two Bison errors. After Howard went back up one on the next play, Shepherd tied it again on a kill. Another error by Howard put Winthrop up 23-22 only to have Howard knot it at 23. A Jolley kill put the Eagles in position to win the match but Howard scored the next two to put them within a point of forcing a fourth set. Jolley tied it again on a kill but Howard scored the final two points to force a fourth set.
Set 4 | Winthrop began the fourth set by splitting the first 20 points, with two kills by Jolley, a kill each by Thomas and McCollum, five Bison errors and an ace by Murray. Howard broke the stalemate by going up 14-10 a couple of plays later. Following a timeout called by the Eagles, two straight errors by Howard cut the lead to two only to have the Bison go back up four at 17-13. The Eagles then made it a one-point contest on kills by Roberts, Shepherd and an error, forcing the Bison to call for time. But Howard regrouped following the timeout, going up 21-16. Winthrop would rally and cut it to two on two more Howard errors and a kill by Shepherd. But it was too little too late as Howard went up four at 23-19 on the next two plays and eventually would go on to win the fourth set 25-21. This tied the match at two and forced a deciding fifth set.
Set 5 | Howard took a 6-3 lead to start the final set, forcing Winthrop to call for time. The three Winthrop points were a result of two Bison errors and a kill by
Riley Oglevie. Following the brief stoppage of play, Howard seized an 8-3 lead. Winthrop did cut it to three on three separate occasions, the last at 10-7 on another Oglevie kill. Howard then went up 13-7 but Winthrop gave it one last shot, making the score 13-10 on a Thomas kill, a Bison error and a McCollum ace. The Bison made it 14-11 match point in favor of them but an error by Howard kept the Eagles alive. A kill by Howard ended the match on the next play.
Statistical Leaders
Notables
- Winthrop held the edge in points, 76-75, aces 10-8 and blocks 9-5
- Thomas, Jolley and Shepherd each had double figures in kills, with Thomas leading the way for the Eagles in that category with 15
- Murray, Jolley and Cadavid each had double figures in digs, with Cadavid leading the way for the Eagles in that category with 18
- McCollum led the Eagles in aces with four
- Roberts led the Eagles in blocks with five
- Murray led the Eagles in assists with 47 and has now moved within 44 assists of 1,000 for her career
UP NEXT
The Eagles face host N.C. State Saturday afternoon at 5:00 p.m. EST to conclude Winthrop's trip to the North Carolina state capital.
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