LYNCHBURG, VA. -- No. 2 Winthrop (20-10) hit .293 and had two players with 20 kills to pick up the 3-1 win over No. 6 UNC Asheville (12-22) in the semifinals of the 2007 Big South Volleyball Championship, Friday afternoon, at the Vines Center in Lynchburg, Va.
The Lady Eagles came out firing and jumped out to an early 12-3 lead and never looked back as they picked up game one, 30-18. The lead changed hands twice early on. With scored tied at 8-8, Winthrop took control on .410 hitting to cruise to the 30-17 win in game two.
In game three, the Bulldogs jumped out to an early 7-2 lead, forcing a Winthrop timeout. After the timeout, the Eagles scored five-unanswered points to tie the game at 7-7. Both teams traded points back and forth with neither team able to take control of the game. A serve into the net by Tara Toepke and an ace by Kelsey Benorden led the Bulldogs to the 31-29 win.
With the score knotted at 15-15 in match four, Winthrop broke the ice and scored five-unanswered points to push its lead to 20-16 and kept the pressure on to pick up the 30-21 win.
Kelsey Benorden had 10-kills and 16-digs for her 22nd double-double of the season. Benorden finishes her freshman season with exatly 500 kills placing her sixth on the single-season list. Rachel Guinane passed out 29 helpers. Teammate Raquel Miotto also had 16 digs in the match.
“We started slow and very tentative,” said Asheville head coach Julie Torbett. “We got down 0-2 and it's hard to come back on such a good team. I saw some moments of greatness, and I thought it would go to five games. Kelsey Benorden, Lauren Ficker and Ashley Wrightenberry played very well. We are a young team and I am very excited about next year.”
Winthrop was lead at the net by Kelly Taylor with 23 kills, followed by Shannon Sitzmann's 20 kills. Toepke put in an 11-kill, 17-dig double-double, while teammate Kelsey Hall posted a 61-assist, 13-dig double-double.
Winthrop moves to the finals for its sixth-straight year to take top seeded Liberty at 4:00 pm on Saturday.
