Boone, N.C. – Winthrop volleyball concluded the Black and Gold Invitational by dropping a four-set battle to Clemson (19-25, 25-21, 20-25, 14-25) Saturday afternoon.
Winthrop (2-5, 0-0 Big South) | Clemson (6-2, 0-0 ACC)
Sep. 14, 2024 | Holmes Convocation Center
Winthrop 1, Clemson 3 (19-25, 25-21, 20-25, 14-25)
How it Happened
Set 1 | The Tigers led 10-6 in the early moments of the match with the six Eagle points being two kills by
Giselle Little,
Karli Shepherd, a kill and ace by
Paige Bennett and a kill by
Isabella Murray. Winthrop proceeded to cut the lead in half at 13-12 by scoring six of the next nine points on four Clemson mistakes and a Bennett and a
Maeve Rehmann kill. Clemson then answered by scoring the next three points but the Eagles kept battling, cutting it to 18-16 after kills by Little, Shepherd,
Rachel McCollum and a Tiger error. The Tigers tacked on the next two points only for the Eagles to slice the lead in half once again after a Bennett kill and a Tiger mistake. Clemson ended the first set by scoring five of the final six points.
Set 2 | Winthrop trailed 6-2 to start the second frame before kills by
Avery Jolley and Little, a Murray ace and an error by the Tigers knotted the score. Clemson went back up 9-7 before the Eagles vaulted into the lead at 15-12 on two Murray kills, a Bennett and a Jolley kill and four mistakes by the Tigers. This represented Winthrop's first lead of the match. The Eagles continued to maintain the lead, upping the margin to 21-16 on a kill by Little, McCollum, two Clemson errors and an ace and a kill by Jolley. The Tigers then rallied to cut it to one at 22-21 but kills by Bennett, Jolley and Rehmann tied the match.
Set 3 | Clemson found themselves up 15-8 at the beginning of the third set with the eight Eagle points coming off a Tiger error, five kills by Bennett and a kill each by Jolley and McCollum. Down by this same score, Winthrop rallied to cut the lead to 16-13 on a kill by Little and McCollum and three kills by Jolley. But the Tigers scored six of the next 10 points to go up 22-17. Winthrop then tried to mount one more rally in the set, cutting the deficit to 23-20 on a kill by Rehmann and two kills by Jolley but the Tigers scored the final two points of the set, taking a 2-1 lead in the match.
Set 4 | Down 7-3, the Eagles cut the margin to one at 8-7 on a Tiger error, a kill by Bennett and two kills by Rehmann. Clemson answered by scoring seven of the next nine points to take a 15-9 lead. A Little kill and a Tiger error made it a four-point game only to watch the Tigers end the day by scoring 10 of the last 13 points.
Top Performers
Notables
- The Eagles have played 1,809 matches all-time as the program holds a mark of 1,075-734.
- Murray is ninth in school history in assists with 2,174.
- Bennett notched a double double with 12 kills and 11 digs.
- Murray came close to a double double with 37 assists and 7 digs.
UP NEXT
Winthrop rounds out non-conference action next week at the Bash in the 'Boro Invitational in Statesboro on the campus of Georgia Southern University.
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