The Presbyterian College volleyball team posted a season-high .278 hitting percentage to record its third win in a row with a 3-0 decision (25-21, 25-23, 25-23) over the Winthrop Eagles in action tonight at the Templeton Center in Clinton, S.C. The Blue Hose, who have started 3-0 in the Big South for the first time in school history, were led by Kelly Berryman with 11 kills.
PC improves to 5-13 overall and 3-0 in the league, while the Eagles drop to 10-7, 1-2. The Blue Hose are next in action on the road Friday, Oct. 11, at Gardner Webb. Match time is set for 7 p.m.
Following Berryman and her 11 kills were Andrea Barman with nine and Halle Tripp with seven. Ashtin Frank recorded 35 assists, while Mary Trimpe added 14 digs. Leading Winthrop was Alina Sopizhuk with 10 kills on the night.
The Blue Hose finished the night with 43 kills and just 16 errors for the .278 hitting percentage. Berryman paced the team with three solo blocks and two block assists as PC ended the match with 9,0 team blocks.
Winthrop posted 40 kills and 19 errors for a .223 hitting percentage, and had 7.0 team blocks.
Tied for the eighth time, 15-15, in the first set, The Blue Hose used back to back kills by Barman and Frank to build a two-point, 17-15 lead. Winthrop cut the lead to one on several occasions, the last time at 20-19, after a Sopizhuk kill. The Blue Hose scored the next five of seven points, capitalizing on three Winthrop attack errors, an ace by Tripp and a kill by Hall, to take the 25-21 win.
Behind multiple kills and blocks from Berryman PC built a five-point, 15-10, lead half-way through the second set before the Eagles used two kills from Sopizhuk and another from Rachel Lenz in a 7-2 run to tie the set at 17-17.
Winthrop took a 19-18 lead off a PC attack error and again at 21-20 before an Eagle service error made it 21-21. Winthrop took a 22-21 lead but Barman's kills knotted the set again at 22-22. Winthrop only scored one more point as the Blue Hose took a 3-1 run, capped by another Barman kill, to take the 25-23 win.
The Blue Hose led 9-6 in the third set until Winthrop rallied to tie it up at 10-10. A back and forth battle ensued with neither team able to take more than a one-point advantage. Tied 16-16, Tripp gave PC a 17-16 lead with a kill, while three straight Eagle errors made it 19-16 in favor of the Blue Hose. Winthrop fought back to make it a one-point set again, 24-23, but Barman came through again with a set and match ending kill to give PC the 25-23 win.
