CHARLESTON, S.C. - Charleston Southern and Winthrop battled through a three-set match Tuesday, Sept. 28 at CSU Field House, with the Eagles prevailing 3-0 (25-19, 27-25, 25-23), winning sets two and three by two points apiece.

Winthrop improves to 5-10 on the season, 2-1 in Big South play, while the Lady Bucs now hold a 6-11 record, having gone 1-3 in conference contests.

The Eagles held CSU to a .075 performance on the attack, thanks in part to 55 WU digs and seven team blocks. Winthrop hit .190, converting 46 kills. CSU registered 47 digs and six blocks as a team.

Amanda Hill paced CSU with 12 kills and 16 digs for her 12th double-double this season and third in as many matches. Cori Holeman posted eight kills at .533 and added four blocks (two solo, two assists).

Tricia Rodl entered double-figures in digs for the eighth match in a row, collecting 13 digs. Amy Nokes and Laura Grace Swindler evenly split 26 assists.

For Winthrop, Kaley Viola registered a match-high 13 kills and Sara Felts added 10 kills. Kelsey Hall earned a double-double with a team-high 34 assists and 11 digs.

CSU jumped out to a 5-2 lead in set one, as Holeman and Crissy Skokan earned two kills apiece and Hill added one. WU rallied to tie the set at 10-10 and built its lead to 14-12 with a 6-3 rally. The Lady Bucs then scored the next four points, with Hill and Kayla Klinger collecting kills. A subsequent 4-0 Winthrop run prompted a CSU timeout. The Lady Bucs drew to within one at 18-17, but WU pulled away for the set one win, 25-19.

Set two saw two significant momentum swings, as Winthrop burst out to a 14-10 lead on the way to a 19-16 advantage. Holeman registered a kill on the next serve, and Hill earned the ensuing two points via a service ace and a kill to tie the match at 19-19. After a Hill attack error gave Winthrop a brief one-point lead, three errors by Carolyn Weed returned CSU into the lead at 22-20.

The Eagles earned a sideout, but the Buccaneers staked three set-point opportunities at 24-21. Viola and Becca Toor responded with kills to slice the deficit to one at 24-23. A Hill miscue tied the set at 24-24. Nokes then recorded a kill for another set point. The Eagles dug a Hill attack, and a Felts kill tied the match. The Eagles earned the final two points for a 27-25 win and 2-0 lead in the match.

Winthrop and CSU traded the lead six times in set three, which saw 10 tie scores as well. WU staged a 5-1 run to take a 14-9 lead midway through the set, and held a 19-13 advantage late when CSU responded. The Lady Bucs scored seven points in a row, six while Swindler served. Holeman earned two kills during the rally, the second of which gave CSU a 20-19 lead. A Nokes-Holeman block also helped spur the momentum in CSU's favor.

Two Winthrop points followed, and Nokes put the Lady Bucs back in the lead at 22-21 with a kill. The Eagles clinched the match with four out of the next five points, taking set three, 25-23.

The Lady Bucs next compete Saturday, Oct. 2 at Liberty, with the first serve at the Vines Center set for 2 p.m. The Lady Flames are 12-6, 3-0 in Big South play after sweeping High Point Tuesday.

Quotes from Head Coach Danyel Bellush

On facing Winthrop:
They're a really good team. They have a lot of weapons, from their service to their passers to their setter. Their hitters are great. We had to defend all aspects of our game, and we defended parts of the game. You can't just be one-dimensional against a team like Winthrop. You have to be a complete player, and we're going to keep working on that. We'll work hard this week, and look forward to the next time we get to play volleyball.

On the tightly-contested competition in sets two and three:
If we win set two, it's probably a different match. The fact that they didn't pack it in during that last set, when we were down 16-11, but we came back and fought hard for that game; that shows a lot of class and character of our girls. I'm proud of them for that, and we'll just keep building on that and try to take it to the next match.

Match Highlights