ROCK HILL, S.C. -- Winthrop University volleyball team opens up Big South play at home this weekend against Charleston Southern and Presbyterian on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
FIRST SERVE
- The Winthrop and Charleston Southern programs have met more than 100 times, with Winthrop owning a commanding 84-20 advantage in the all-time series. The first matchup came in November 1979, a 2-0 Winthrop victory. Their most recent meeting was last season, when the Eagles took down the Buccaneers in four-sets.
- Charleston Southern has yet to defeat Winthrop during the Gearhart era.
- The Saturday game will serve as the 50th meeting between Winthrop and Presbyterian, with the Eagles holding a 38-10 lead in the all-time series. The first meeting came in 1976, a 2-0 Winthrop victory. The most recent matchup occurred on Halloween last season, when the Eagles earned a 3-0 sweep.
- Presbyterian's last win in the series came in the regular-season finale in 2022.
- Paige Bennett currently leads the conference in kills per set at 4.28, also sitting at 20th in the nation
- Bennett also holds the lead for points per set in the Big South, 4.79, residing at 24th in the nation
- Lexi Thatcher ranks first in the Big South in assists per set at 10.12, 39th in the NCAA
- Teagan Sychterz is third in the conference in blocks per game, 1.03
- Addison Torain is fifth in the Big South in digs per set, 4.00
- Alyah Cadavid currently sits 12 digs away from 500 for her career, 488
- Paige Bennett sits at 489 kills in her career, 11 away from 500
- Giselle Little sits at 390 kills in her career
- Torain resides at 428 digs in her career
- Addison Torain was named the Big South Conference Libero of the Week for the week of Sept. 28, her first Big South weekly honor. Torain was all over the court in the Big South opener, recording 24 digs for an average of 6.00 per set in a four-set win over Gardner-Webb. She was also perfect on serve receive with no errors in 23 attempts and added three service aces. Torain led the Big South in digs per set at 6.00, and her 24 digs were the most in a single match in the conference last week. She also tied for second in the conference in aces per set at 0.75.
- The Eagles opened up Big South play on the road against Gardner-Webb, notching a four-set win
- Bennett once again tied her career-high with 22 kills, as she has now tied it two times this season after setting it in the opening game against Davidson
- Thatcher had 47 assists in the four sets, the 47 assists were the most in the Big South on the week, as well as topping the conference in assists per set with an 11.75 mark
- Bennett kept her streak of 12+ kills per game going, now sitting at ten-straight
- Torain paced all Liberos with 24 digs in a single match against GWU
- KeAra Bowen was named the MVP of the Second Winthrop Invitational this past weekend
- Bowen was unstoppable on the week, led the big south in kills per set (4.83), led the big south in points per set (5.42), second in the big south in hitting percentage (.489), tied fourth in the big south in blocks per set (1.17), and set a new career-high 15 kills hitting .522 with four blocks against UNCW
- Paige Bennett and Lexi Thatcher were also named to the All-Tournament team of the second Winthrop Invitational, also being named to the All-Tournament team of the first one
- Thatcher opened the week with a 37-assist 11-dig double-double, her most assists in a three-set match, against UNC Wilmington on Friday, Thatcher led the Big South in assists per set with her 11.17 in the six sets played, tied for seventh in service aces per set at 0.50, and was tenth in the conference in digs per set at 3.17…Winthrop hit .319 and .333 in the two matches this week, for an average of .325, which was the highest in the conference on the week
- Lexi Thatcher captured her second-straight Big South Conference Setter of the Week honor for the week of Sept. 14
- Thatcher continued to run the offense efficiently for the Eagles, racking up 129 assists on the week for an average of 9.21 assists per set, a mark that led the Big South. She recorded a double-double in each of the three matches, starting with 43 assists and 12 digs against Ohio State, followed by a season-high 48 assists and 18 digs in five sets against Youngstown State, and closing out the week with 38 assists and 11 digs Sunday against Southern Indiana. Her 41 digs on the week were the third most on the Eagles. Thatcher also tallied 10 blocks for an average of 0.71 per set, tied for 10th in the Big South. Winthrop hit at an average of .181 as a team across the three matches.
- The Eagles competed in the Sports Import Classic last week, facing off against Ohio State, Youngstown State, and Southern Indiana
- The Eagles were up 2-0 on Ohio State on Friday but eventually fell in five sets following a reverse sweep. Paige Bennett led all with 18 kills in the match
- Winthrop was then taken down in four sets by Youngstown State on Saturday
- The Eagles closed out the Classic with a five-set loss in the first meeting between the Eagles and Screaming Eagles with their worst hitting performance of the tournament
- Winthrop faced off against Ohio State and Southern Indiana will also meet for the first time during the classic, making it the third new opponent the Eagles have faced this season (Old Dominion)
- Bennett was named Big South Player of the Week for the Week of Sept. 7, as she continued her tear into the second week of the season, helping the Eagles to a 2-0 weekend. She finished the week with 37 kills while hitting .346. She opened the week posting a match-high 15 kills on .303 hitting with seven digs. She then tied her career high against Old Dominion in a five-set match on Saturday, again leading all players with 22 kills on .378 hitting and adding 11 digs for her second double-double of the season. Her 22 kills were the high mark in the Big South last week. Bennett was also nearly flawless on serve receive, committing just one error in 34 attempts. She ranked second in the conference in kills per set at 4.63 and third in points per set at 4.88
- Thatcher was named Big South Setter of the Week for the Week of Sept. 7, after resuming setter duties after leaving with an injury last week. She totaled 77 assists across eight sets for an average of 9.63 assists per set, with Winthrop hitting .292 as a team across the two matches. Thatcher started the week with a match-high 35 assists against ACC foe Virginia Tech, also leading the Eagles with 12 digs for a double-double. She then capped off her week with another match-high 42 assists and 18 digs for her second double-double in as many games. Thatcher led the Eagles in total digs with 30 and digs per set at 3.75, placing fifth in the conference in that category
- Bennett was named the MVP of the Winthrop Invitational
- Thatcher and Czajka were also named to the All-Tournament Team
- Winthrop faced off against Old Dominion for the first time on Saturday, with the Monarchs pushing the Eagles to five-sets, and ODU losing on a rotational error
- Thatcher reached 2,000 career assists against Virginia Tech
- The Eagles set an attendance record on Thursday against Virginia Tech, seeing 1,149 fans in attendance
- Winthrop swept Virginia Tech on Thursday, making it a second-straight sweep against the Hokies
- Winthrop swept the Hokies the last time they met on the court, but split the Home-and-Home series with them in 2024 after taking them to five sets in Blacksburg
- Paige Bennett and Addison Torain were named to the Wildcat Classic All-Tournament team this past weekend
- Bennett collected 35 kills in the two matches, hitting at a clip of .244. Bennett led the Big South in Kills per Set at 4.38 and Points per Set at 4.81 for the week of Aug. 31
- Torrain took over Libero responsibilities this season, digging out 36 balls in the eight sets played, also setting a new career-high with six assists against Davidson
- Torrain was tied for third in the Big South for Digs per Set with 4.50 in the week of Aug. 31
- Bennett set a new career-high against Davidson on Friday with 22 kills on a career-high 55 attacks with 12 digs in the five-set match, she also set her former career-high last season in the opening weekend
- The Eagles ended the week with two losses after falling to Wofford in straight sets, the third straight time the Eagles have lost to the Terriers on a neutral court
- Winthrop opened their season against the same opponent as they did last year, this time on the other side of a five-set decision to Davidson
- Paige Bennett was named to the Big South Conference Preseason All-Conference Team
- Winthrop opens the year as ranked as preseason number two in the 2026 Big South preseason poll
- This marks the fourth-straight year that the Eagles have earned at least one first-place vote, and four straight years of having a member on the Preseason All-Conference Team.
- Head Coach Heather Gearhart returns for her fifth season at the helm of the Eagles
- Winthrop finished last season with an 18-7 record, holding a 12-2 mark in Big South play, earning the top seed for the first time since 2019.
- Gearhart has held a 48-10 record in her four seasons at the helm in Big South play.
- Gearhart was also tabbed as the AVCA Southeast Region Coach of the Year last season, becoming the first AVCA Region Coach of the Year in Winthrop History, and only the second ever in the Big South, the first to do so since Tom Mendoza of High Point in 2017.
- Winthrop returns six of the eight players that played 70 or more sets for them last season
- The Eagles return 59.56% of their kills from last season, led by Paige Bennett
- Bennett was named to the Big South Conference All-Conference Second Team last season
- Teagan Sychterz returns after playing every set for the Eagles last year (101), and being named to the Big South Conference All-Conference Second Team last season
- Sychterz led the Eagles in total blocks last season with 82
- Giselle Little also returns for her junior season after leading the Eagles in hitting percentage, 0.299
- Little was also an All-Conference Honorable Mention last year, playing in all but one set (100)
- Addison Torrain wrapped up her freshman campaign playing in every set for the Eagles as a true freshman, earning her spot on the Big South Conference All-Freshman Team
- Laila Glover also returns for her senior season, after playing in 87 sets and being one of the six Eagles with 100+ kills (161)
- Last season, the Eagles ranked 21st in the NCAA in digs per set with a mark of 16.48
- They also were top ranked in the Big South in assists per set and kills per set, 12.38 and 13.56
- The Eagles lost their leaders in the categories of kills, (Avery Jolley, 380), assists, (Rachel McCollum, 785) and digs, (Sophia Matthews, 410)
- Winthrop also loses 95.6% of their assists last season, with Lexi Thatcher now stepping into the setter duties
- Thatcher transferred in from Samford after her sophomore year, leading the SoCon in assists per set that year and starting every match in her sophomore campaign
- The Eagles also lose 61% of their digs from last season, with the only two returners over 100 digs being Torrain and Bennett
- The Eagles have made the Big South postseason tournament for the last eight years
- Winthrop has six conference titles, tied for second most in Big South history and tied for the most of all active Big South members (Tied with Radford)
- This is the 55th season of Eagle Volleyball, with these matches being the 1868th and 1869th
2026 HONORS
- Paige Bennett
- Big South Conference Preseason All-Conference Team
- Wildcat Classic All-Tournament Team
- Winthrop Invitational MVP
- Winthrop Invitational All-Tournament Team
- Big South Player of the Week (Sept. 7)
- 2nd Winthrop Invitational All-Tournament Team
- Addison Torain
- Wildcat Classic All-Tournament Team
- Big South Libero of the Week (Sept. 28)
- Lexi Thatcher
- Winthrop Invitational All-Tournament Team
- Big South Setter of the Week (Sept. 7)
- Big South Setter of the Week (Sept. 14)
- 2nd Winthrop Invitational All-Tournament Team
- Maggie Czajka
- Winthrop Invitational All-Tournament Team
- KeAra Bowen
- 2nd Winthrop Invitational MVP
- 2nd Winthrop Invitational All-Tournament Team
WINTHROP IMPACT NETWORK
Winthrop Athletics is proud to announce the launch of WIN: Winthrop's Impact Network - a distinguished philanthropic giving society established to support and elevate Winthrop's 16 NCAA Division I programs and nearly 300 student-athletes.
In the new era of college athletics, it is critical now more than ever to generate revenue to provide Winthrop student-athletes with the resources and opportunities needed to compete for Big South championships and advance in the NCAA tournament. Winthrop's Impact Network members will have an elite level of direct impact on the future of Winthrop Athletics. For more information,
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