CHARLESTON, S.C. – Charleston Southern volleyball swept away defending champion Winthrop Saturday afternoon 3-0 (25-21, 31-29, 25-21) as they opened their 2021 spring season in dominant fashion ending the Eagles 16-match win streak in Big South play.

Charleston Southern (1-0, 1-0 Big South) got the early momentum taking the first set by a 25-21 margin thanks to six kills from Paige Reagor and five from Peyton Thompson making her Buccaneer debut. The duo would go on to combine for 24 kills – 12 each – in the three-set win.

Winthrop (0-1, 0-1 Big South) forced an extended second set before falling leaving the door open for a the Buccaneer victory. Three Eagles had 10-plus kills in the loss as Brookelynn Thomas and Morgan Bossler had 11 each.

Six different Bucs made their debut Saturday including a 10-kill performance from Indigo Young and a match-high .529 hitting percentage as the Bucs hit .301 overall and blocked 10 Eagle attempts holding the defending champs to just a .192 attack percentage.
 
First Set

• Paige Reagor and Peyton Thompson combined for 11 of their 24 kills as CSU took the first set by a 25-21 margin
• CSU hit .355 in the opening set as three Bucs hit above .444 and held Winthrop to just .200

Second Set

• Four Bucs collected a least three kills in an extended second set before prevailing 31-29
• Emma Minnick had 14 of her 38 assists and two blocks
• Paige Reagor showed off her defensive prowess the final two sets collecting seven of her eight blocks to help secure the sweep – four coming in the back-and-forth middle set
• Peyton Thompson had a match-high six kills in the second stanza and hit .500

Third Set

• Neither team held a lead larger than two points in the final set until the Bucs pushed it to 22-19 on their way to finishing the sweep
• After falling behind 19-18, the Bucs rallied with a 7-2 run to close the match and end the Eagles' 16-match win streak inside Big South play.

Standout Performances

• CSU hit .301 as a team while clamping down and holding Winthrop to just .192
• Indigo Young hit .529 and had 10 kills while Peyton Thompson had 12 kills in their Buccaneer debuts
• Paige Reagor had 12 kills and eight blocks to secure the sweep, seven coming over the final two sets
• Emma Minnick had 38 assists while five Bucs had five-or-more digs in the whole-team defensive effort

Up Next
Charleston Southern and Winthrop conclude their two-game series Sunday afternoon with a start time of 2 p.m. on ESPN+.