University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Winthrop
Volleyball Falls to Winthrop in Championship Match - UNC Asheville Bulldogs Official Athletics Site
01.01.1970 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 18, 2006
HIGH POINT, N.C. - The top-seeded Winthrop Eagles defeated No. 2 UNC Asheville, 3-0 (30-12, 30-23, 30-16), to win the 2006 Big South Volleyball Championship Sunday at the Millis Center in High Point, N.C. With the win, Winthrop becomes the first Big South school ever to win five-straight volleyball championships, and receives the Conference's automatic bid to the 2006 NCAA Tournament.
The Eagles (33-2) won their 17th-straight match behind tournament MVP Taryn Surbaugh's 14 kills. Emily Stockman kicked in 12 kills with no errors, as Tori Grafeman notched 12 kills as well. Emily Heckl passed out 41 assists in the match and Libero Pohai Nu'uhiwa came up with 19 digs.
For Asheville (15-18), Emily Palma earned all-tournament honors as she followed up her career 12 kill performance on Friday night with a team-high seven kills against the Eagles. Elif Unlu also posted seven kills and added 12 digs as she ends her UNC Asheville career with 1,709 kills and 1,427 digs. Those numbers place her fourth on Asheville's all-time kills list and sixth in digs. Raquel Miotto also earned all-tournament honors posting 13 digs in the back row. Miotto finishes the season with 721 digs which is the third most in a single-season in Big South history as well as in UNC Asheville history.
"Hats off to Winthrop," said Asheville head coach Julie Torbett. "They are a great team and they came out and executed. I am happy that we had eight freshmen in the Championship match. It will be nice to have that kind of experience back, especially championship game experience."
The Eagles have now won 15 consecutive Conference Tournament matches, dating back to the 2002 season. Winthrop, the 2006 regular-season champion as well, is the first Big South club to go undefeated in the regular season and Conference Tournament in three-straight seasons.
2006 Big South Volleyball All-Tournament Team
Morgan Anderson, Birmingham-Southern
Jill Nyhof, Coastal Carolina
Raquel Miotto, UNC Asheville
Emily Palma, UNC Asheville
Pohai Nu'uhiwa, Winthrop
Shannon Sitzmann, Winthrop
Taryn Surbaugh, Winthrop (MVP)
