Rock Hill, S.C. – Winthrop volleyball (15-9, 12-2 Big South) is set to face the winner of third-seeded USC Upstate and sixth-seeded Presbyterian in the second semifinal match of the Big South tournament on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 6:00 p.m. The match will be held on High Point's campus inside the Millis Athletic Center, the site of all 2024 tournament contests. With a win, the Eagles will face the next day at 4:00 p.m. the winner of the first Saturday semifinal match between first-seeded High Point and the winner of Friday's quarterfinal match between fourth-seeded Radford and fifth seeded UNC Asheville. Each match of the championship will be carried on ESPN+. The winner of the tournament will receive the Big South Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
EVENT SCHEDULE
FIRST ROUND - Friday, Nov. 22
(4) Radford vs. (5) UNC Asheville, 3:00pm
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(3) USC Upstate vs. (6) Presbyterian, 6:00pm
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SEMIFINALS - Saturday, Nov. 23
(1) High Point vs. 4/5 Winner, 3:00pm
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(2) Winthrop vs. 3/6 Winner, 6:00pm
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CHAMPIONSHIP - Sunday, Nov. 24
TBD vs. TBD, 4:00pm
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TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
The 2024 Big South Conference Women's Volleyball Championship will be held at the Millis Athletic Center on the campus of High Point University in High Point, N.C. The single-elimination tournament will feature the top six teams in the final standings -- with the top two seeds receiving byes into the semifinals. The first round will be held on Friday, Nov. 22, the semifinals are scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 23, and the Championship contest will be on Sunday, Nov. 24. Each match of the championship will be carried on ESPN+. The winner of the tournament will receive the Big South Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Admission is free, and spectator parking will be available in the Caffey Residence Hall Parking Lot, across from the Millis Athletic and Convocation Center (excluding spots that are numbered), the College Village Parking Lot, Qubein Center Park Lot, or the Steele/Witcher Parking Lot located near Vert Stadium (excluding hotel guest spots). Shuttles will be running from the Qubein Center Parking Lot to the Millis Athletic and Convocation Center.
SEASON HONORS
Isabella Murray-VCU Invitational All-Tournament Team
- Murray passed 100 career blocks and 500 digs
- With this, Murray became the fifth setter in Winthrop history to have 2,000 assists, 100 blocks and 500 digs in her career
- Murray notched another double-double in the sweep of Lafayette with 41 assists and 15 digs while adding in a kill and setting the team to a .336 hitting percentage
Paige Bennett-VCU Invitational All-Tournament Team
- Bennett led the Eagles in kills in both matches with 4.17/set while hitting .277 on the weekend as a 6 rotation outside
- She was also the team's point scoring leader with 4.41 per set
- She added on 10 digs, an ace, 2 assists, and a block assist
Isabella Murray-Big South Setter of the Week-Sep. 2-8
- Murray posted 67 assists (11.17 per set) in addition to 23 digs (3.83 per set) as the Eagles split a pair of matches
- Murray is Winthrop's first ever Big South Setter of the Week recipient (the award was instituted by the Conference starting this season). This is also the first time this season an Eagle has taken home a weekly award
Sophia Matthews-Black and Gold Invitational All-Tournament Team
- Matthews led the Eagles in digs in all three matches, which included a career-best 16 vs. Appalachian State
- Her 16 digs in a three-set match is tied for 4th by any player in the Big South Conference this season
- She also added five assists and two aces
Karli Shepherd-Bash In The 'Boro Invitational All-Tournament Team
- Shepherd led the Eagles in kills in all three matches last weekend with 36
- Averaged 4.00 kills per set and hitting .371 on 81 attempts
- Added 11 digs, an ace and two block assists
Isabella Murray-Big South Setter of the Week-Sep. 30-Oct. 6
- Murray helped the Eagles to a 3-0 sweep over USC Upstate last Saturday with 34 assists (11.33 per set) and seven digs
- Guided the squad to a .325 team hitting percentage in its conference opener
Karli Shepherd-Big South Player of the Week-Oct. 7-13
- Shepherd paced the Eagles' offense to two road sweeps, leading the team in total kills with 30 (5.00 per set) and total points with 32.5 (5.42 per set)
- She added 2.50 digs per set
- Shepherd had her career-high for kills in Saturday's match against Charleston Southern, as she put down 17 in just three sets
Isabella Murray-Big South Setter of the Week-Oct. 7-13
- Murray's work on the weekend helped lead the Eagles to a .275 hitting percentage and two 3-0 victories
- She totaled 75 assists (12.33 per set) and her 41 assists on Friday against Presbyterian was her third match this season with at least 40
- Murray added 2.33 digs per set and 1.00 kills per set to compliment her assist numbers
Sophia Matthews-Big South Libero of the Week-Oct. 7-13
- Matthews scooped up 37 digs in two road match victories, good for 6.17 per set
- She would post career bests in digs in both contests -- first picking up 18 on Friday at PC followed by 19 on Saturday at Charleston Southern
- Matthews anchored the Eagles defense with a .950 reception percentage while holding the opposition to a .132 hitting clip
Isabella Murray-Big South Setter of the Week-Oct. 14-20
- Picked up 82 total assists (11.71 per set) while adding 25 digs (3.57 per set) in two matches
- She had 51 assists and 11 digs against Radford on Friday and added another 31 assists and 14 digs against High Point on Saturday
- Murray's 51-assist performance is a new season high
Isabella Murray-Big South Setter of the Week-Oct. 21-27
- Murray directed the Eagles to two sweeps with the team recording an overall .310 hitting percentage last week
- She notched 72 assists (12.00 per set) to pace the offense and contributed 24 digs (4.00 per set) to provide assistance on the defensive end
- Murray recorded a double-double in both matches and added a season-high five kills in Saturday's win over Presbyterian
Avery Jolley-Big South Player of the Week-Nov. 4-10
- She totaled 54 kills (5.40 per set) as well as 30 digs (3.00 per set) and 6.0 blocks
- In two matches against UNC Asheville, she recorded 20 kills and 18 kills -- tied for the most and second most, respectively, in a three-set conference match this season
- Against the Bulldogs, Jolley hit .422 (20-1-45) last Tuesday and .405 (18-3-37) on Saturday
- In between the Asheville contests, Jolley recorded a 16-kill, 14-dig double double in a four-set victory over USC Upstate
Isabella Murray-Big South Setter of the Week-Nov. 4-10
- Murray paced the Eagles' offense as she contributed 106 assists in the three matches (10.60 per set), while picking up 44 digs (4.40 per set), eight kills and four blocks
- As a team, Winthrop hit .265 in the three-match span as Murray tallied double-doubles in each
- In Saturday's contest against UNC Asheville, she had 33 assists and 15 digs to power the Eagles to a .387 hitting percentage
- She recorded 40 assists and 18 digs in the win over USC Upstate on Friday evening
Giselle Little-Big South Co-Freshman of the Week-Nov. 4-10
- Little hit .400 or better in all three matches last week and totaled a .485 hitting clip (20-4-33) along with 9.0 blocks in helping the Eagles go 3-0
- She had seven kills and a .600 average at UNC Asheville last Tuesday, recorded eight kills, seven blocks and hit .400 vs. USC Upstate on Friday, and finished the week with a .500 percentage in the second win over Asheville on Saturday
Isabella Murray- Big South Setter of the Week-Nov. 11-17
- Murray set the conference mark for assists in a three-set match this season with 46 (15.33 per set) in a Senior Night win against Gardner-Webb on Friday
- She totaled 83 assists in two sweeps of the Runnin' Bulldogs, good for 13.83 per set
- Murray also tallied double-digit digs (12 on Thursday and 11 on Friday), and recorded three kills in each contest
Sophia Matthews-Big South Libero of the Week-Nov. 11-17
- Matthews picked up 54 digs and averaged 9.00 digs per set in the Eagles' two sweeps
- She broke the Winthrop record for digs in a three-set match with a career-high 33 on Friday against Gardner-Webb
- Matthews had 21 digs in Thursday's contest, and her efforts played a major role in holding Gardner-Webb to a .121 hitting percentage on the weekend
A LOOK AT THE EAGLES
- Winthrop volleyball went 2-0 this week, sweeping Gardner-Webb on back-to-back nights Thursday and Friday
- At Gardner-Webb in the first match, four Eagles hit over .300 in the match
- Murray had double doubles in both matches
- Shepherd got her 100th career total block on Friday
- Four Eagles had double figures in both kills and digs on Friday
- Jenna Calloway, Rylie McMahen and Matthews had career highs in digs
- Matthews set the all-time individual record for most digs in a three-set match
- Eagles also set the all-time program record for most team digs in a three-set match (87)
- Winthrop will enter the conference tournament on a six-game win streak
- Winthrop ends the regular-season with a 6-2 record at home
- The Eagles have played 1,826 matches all-time as the program holds a mark of 1,088-738
- Winthrop is currently the only program in the Big South so far this season to have defeated a Power Four opponent
- Jolley leads the team in kills with 279
- Murray leads the team in assists with 839 and aces with 17
- Maeve Rehmann leads the team in blocks with 55
- Matthews leads the team in digs with 333
- Winthrop leads the conference in kills per set (13.79)
- This is also ranked 29th in the nation
- Winthrop leads the conference in digs per set (18.77)
- This is also ranked 3rd in the nation
- Winthrop is second in the conference in assists per set (12.49)
- Winthrop is second in the conference in hitting percentage (.218)
- Jolley is second in the Big South in kills per set with 3.72
- Shepherd is close behind, placing fifth with 3.14
- Rehmann is eighth in the conference in the same category with .266
- Rehmann is also 10th in the conference in blocks per set with 0.79
- Little is third in the Big South in hitting percentage (.382)
- This is ranked 34th in the nation
- Matthews is second in the conference in digs per set with 5.05
- This is ranked 18th in the nation
- Murray leads the conference in assists per set with 10.76
- This is also ranked 18th in the nation
- Murray is ranked 10th in the conference in digs per set with 3.04
BIG SOUTH TOURNAMENT HISTORY
- The Eagles have won the Big South tournament crown six times, most recently in 2019 when they also won the regular season championship
- Winthrop has also appeared in the championship match on five other occasions, finishing as the runners-up
- Winthrop is 35-29 all-time in the Big South Tournament
- Winthrop lost to defending champion High Point in the finals last season, 3-2 after sweeping Gardner-Webb in the semifinals
WATCH THE EAGLES ON ESPN+
All but two of the home games during the 2024 season will air live on ESPN+. You can also catch select road games in Big South Conference play on ESPN+. To watch Big South games on ESPN+ you must have a subscription to ESPN+. For more information on how to subscribe,
click here.
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