No. 1 Winthrop Sweeps No. 4 Presbyterian, Advances to Championship
ROCK HILL, S.C. -- The Winthrop Eagles have advanced to the Big South Conference Championship match for the first time since 2007 after sweeping Presbyterian College in straight sets (25-9, 25-22, 25-20). Playing host to the Big South Conference Championships, the Eagles extended their home court record to 13-0 going into tomorrow's match.
The first set was all Eagles with the #1 seed building momentum off the high energy from the home crowd. PC struggled to get past a solid Winthrop block and keep their attack errors in check. The Blue Hose hit just -.128 in the opening frame, while the Eagles managed a .276. Player of the Year, Siani Yamaguchi had the hot hand with three kills, no errors and nine assists.
BOX SCORE
The Eagles carried the momentum into the second set, jumping to a 3-0 lead. PC fought their way back into the set and took their first, and only, 10-9. Emily Wunder answered with an uncontested kill and a string of PC attack errors put the Eagles back in the lead. The set reached another tie, 22-22, when two kills from Siani Yamaguchi and a PC error put the Eagles up 2-0 in the match.
The third set looked to be another runaway, with Winthrop taking an 18-13 lead. The Blue Hose struggled to cut the lead to less than three and the Eagles finished the match with a kill from Nikkia Benitez.
The offensively rounded Eagles saw eight kills from Emily Wunder, Nikkia Benitez, and Makayla Doyle. Morgan Bossler finished just behind them with 7 kills. Siani Yamaguchi finished with 33 assists, 11 digs, five kills, and set her team to a .209.
PC struggled offensively all night, finishing with just two players with five kills, and a .008 team hitting efficiency.
The Eagles will be back at the Coliseum tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 p.m. for the Big South Conference Championship match. They will play the winner of the High Point vs. Campbell semi-final match. The winner of tomorrow's match will earn a trip to the NCAA tournament.