Rachel Hall recorded a career-high 18 kills, while Allison Brown added 12 to lead the Presbyterian College volleyball team to the 3-1 win over Winthrop in Big South action tonight in Rock Hill, S.C. The Blue Hose won the match with scores of 21-25, 26-24, 25-22 and 25-22.
The Blue Hose improve to 5-13 overall and 2-1 in the Big South. Winthrop falls to 7-10, 1-2.
Hall led all players with her 18 kills. Following Brown and her 12 kills were Andrea Barman with 11 and Presley Mabrey with 10. Ashtin Frank recorded 52 assists while Mary Trimpe added 19 digs. PC hit .190 for the night off 58 kills and 28 errors. Winthrop recorded 55 kills and 21 errors for a .217 hitting percentage.
Winthrop opened the first game with an 11-6 lead before PC rallied behind four Mabrey kills and two Brown kills to cut the margin to one at 15-16. Winthrop used a kill by Stephanie Palmer to stop the run and retake the two-point, 17-15 lead. The Eagles kept the margin at two and three down the stretch, until late when an ace by Trimpe made it 21-23. Winthrop took the next two points off a PC attack error and a kill by Kristin Cruse and won game one 25-21.
The Blue Hose led by as much as five, 14-9, in game two before Winthrop scored six unanswered to take a 16-15 lead, before Andrea Barman's kill tied it at 16-16. Winthrop and PC traded points the rest of the game, resulting in eight ties, the last coming at 24-24. The Eagles gave the Blue Hose the win 26-24 win at the end after committing back to back attack errors.
There were seven ties in the first 22 points of game three, as neither team could take a clear advantage. The game knotted at 11-11, PC opens up a three-point lead at 14-11 off a Winthrop attack error, a kill by Hall and an ace by Mabrey. The Eagles rallied with three straight to tie the game again at 14-14. Another back and forth battle ensued with both team accumulating seven more ties, the last coming at 22-22. PC capitalized on two Eagle miscues and an Elizabeth Miler kill to take three points in a row and earn the 25-22 win.
Winthrop opened up a 7-3 lead in game four, taking advantage of four PC errors and kills by Amy Zimmer and Jennica Mullins. PC took a 6-2 run, highlighted by two kills by Brown and Miler each, and tied the game at 9-9. After several ties, Winthrop retook the lead at 15-13, before a Hall kill and subsequent block knotted the game at 15-15. After a Kristin Cruse kill gave Winthrop the lead back, PC scored the next seven of nine points to take a 22-18 lead. The Eagles cut the margin to one, 23-22, but Barman and Hall's back to back kills gave the Blue Hose the 25-22 game four and match win.
PC returns home for the first time since August 28th when the Blue Hose take on Gardner Webb Friday Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. at the Templeton Center.
