High Point, N.C. – Winthrop defeated Presbyterian in the semifinals of the Big South Conference Tournament by a final score of 3-1 Saturday night at the Millis Center on the campus of High Point University.
 
Winthrop (16-9, 12-2 Big South) | Presbyterian (10-19, 5-9 Big South)
Nov. 23, 2024 | Millis Center
Winthrop 3, Presbyterian 1 (23-25, 25-22, 25-13, 25-20)

How it Happened

Set 1 | The match started at 5-5 before Winthrop seized a 10-7 lead on three Blue Hose mistakes and kills by Avery Jolley and Rachel McCollum. Presbyterian responded with a 10-3 run to take a 17-13 lead. The Eagles tied it at 19 only to see the Blue Hose score the next two points to break the deadlock. Winthrop then cut it to one on three occasions, the last at 24-23 after Presbyterian made it set point at 24-21. But the Blue Hose took the first set on the next play.
 
Set 2 | Presbyterian scored the first two points before Winthrop went on an 8-0 run. Three of the eight Winthrop points during the run were kills by Karli Shepherd. Presbyterian scored the next two points only for the Eagles to score six straight points to extend their lead to 14-4. The Blue Hose then rallied with a 9-3 spurt to cut the deficit to 17-13 but three straight points scored by the Eagles took it up to seven. The Blue Hose scored eight of the next 10 points to cut the margin to one at 22-21 but two Shepherd kills made it set point for the Eagles. After a point for Presbyterian on the next play, Giselle Little's kill tied the match at one.
 
Set 3 | The two teams split the first 20 points to start the third set. A kill by McCollum, two kills by Shepherd, an error by the Blue Hose and an ace by Rylie McMahen broke the tie and put Winthrop in the lead at 15-10. The Eagles eventually went up by ten at 23-13 after a kill by Jolley. The set ended two plays later after two straight aces by Sophia Matthews, giving the Eagles the lead for the first time in the match.
 
Set 4 | Winthrop trailed 4-3 before going on an 8-3 rally to seize an 11-7 lead. The Blue Hose cut it to 12-11 before two kills by Shepherd and kills by McCollum and Isabella Murray extended Winthrop's lead to four. Presbyterian rallied to tie the score at 17 only to have the Eagles break the tie by scoring five straight points. The match ended six plays later on Jolley's kill.
 
Top Performers

• Karli Shepherd (13 kills, 20 digs)
• Avery Jolley (13 kills, 18 digs)
• Giselle Little (12 kills, .348, 7 total blocks)
• Isabella Murray (44 assists, 15 digs, 4 total blocks)
• Sophia Matthews (29 digs, 4 aces)
• Alyah Cadavid (12 digs)

Notables

• The Eagles have played 1,827 matches all-time as the program holds a mark of 1,089-738
• Murray is seventh in school history in assists with 2,825
• Four Eagles recorded double figures in kills
• Five Eagles recorded double figures in digs
• Jolley, Shepherd and Murray all recorded double doubles
• Little had a career high in kills and tied her career high in blocks
• Shepherd had a career high in digs
• The Eagles set a new school record for most team digs in a four-set match
• The Eagles had 100 digs
• Winthrop is 36-29 all-time in the Big South Tournament
• This is Winthrop's 12th appearance all-time in the title match, with a record of 6-5
• The Eagles last won the conference tournament in 2019

UP NEXT
Winthrop advances to the title match tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m. on ESPN+, facing the No. 1 seeded High Point Panthers on their home court.
 
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