Charleston, S.C. – Winthrop volleyball won their third straight match at Charleston Southern in straight sets Saturday afternoon.
 
Winthrop (6-7, 3-0 Big South) | Charleston Southern (3-14, 0-4 Big South)
Oct. 12, 2024 | Buccaneer Fieldhouse
Winthrop 3, Charleston Southern 0 (25-12, 25-16, 27-25)

How it Happened

Set 1 | Winthrop led 6-3 early on in the match but the visiting Eagles exploded with six straight points to take a 12-3 edge. After the Buccaneers got a point on the next play, Winthrop again went on a big run, scoring seven of the next 10 points to go up 12 at 19-7. During the scoring binge, Avery Jolley accounted for three kills. Charleston Southern then scored three straight points but the Eagles concluded the set by scoring six of the final eight points to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Karli Shepherd led the Eagle offensive attack during the closing stretch with three kills. Giselle Little's kill officially ended the set after a point by the Buccaneers.
 
Set 2 | The Eagles began the second stanza with a 7-4 lead before Charleston Southern rallied to go up 9-8. Winthrop quickly scored four of the next six points to lead by a point at 12-11. But from there the Eagles took command of the set, going on a 9-1 run to seize a nine-point edge at 21-12. Shepherd accounted for two kills during the rally. Charleston Southern then scored four of the next six points to cut the lead to six but the Eagles scored the final three points to double up their margin in the match. Isabella Murray had an ace and a kill to account for two of the final three Eagle points of the set.
 
Set 3 | Winthrop trailed 4-0 before fighting back to tie the score at six. Rachel McCollum had two kills for Winthrop during the early tying rally. The Buccaneers answered by scoring the next three points before the Eagles again tied the score, this time at 11-11 after two straight kills by McCollum. For the next several plays, either the score was tied or each team only led by a point. With the set knotted at 17, Charleston Southern then scored five of the next seven points to break the deadlock and go up 22-19. But Winthrop was not done, scoring two quick points to cut it to one on a kill by Shepherd and a Buccaneer error. Charleston Southern scored two points to get within one of taking the set but kills by McCollum, Shepherd and Little tied it at 24. The Buccaneers got a point on the next play to again come within one of winning the set but Shepherd's kill tied it. An error by the Buccaneers gave Winthrop the lead at 26-25 and on the next play Murray's kill ended the match.
 
Top Performers

• Karli Shepherd (17 kills, 9 digs, 41 TA)
• Avery Jolley (8 kills, 28 digs, 30 TA)
• Isabella Murray (5 kills, 33 assists, .556 pct.)
• Sophia Matthews (19 digs)
• Rachel McCollum (10 kills, 20 TA, .450 pct., 5 digs)
• Giselle Little (5 kills, 15 TA, 2 BA)
• Alyah Cadavid (9 digs)

Notables

• The Eagles have played 1,815 matches all-time as the program holds a mark of 1,079-736
• Murray is eighth in school history in assists with 2,368
• Jolley's 28 digs set the all-time individual match record for digs in a three-set match
• The previous record was 26 set by Madison Gorniak vs. Charlotte on Sep. 19, 2021 (a 3-0 Eagle victory)
• This was also a career-high in digs for her
• Matthews had a career-high in digs with 19
• Shepherd had a career-high in kills with 17

UP NEXT
Next week the Eagles return home to Rock Hill to face Radford on Friday, Oct. 18 at 6:00 p.m. and defending Big South champion High Point on Saturday, Oct. 12 at 2:00 p.m. in a huge rivalry matchup.

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