University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Thursday, September 22
Asheville, NC
6 pm
UNC Asheville
3-8,0-1Big South
0
vs
3
Winthrop
5-7,1-0Big South
1
2
3
F
Winthrop
25
25
25
3
UNC Asheville
23
19
17
0
Bulldogs fall in their Big South opener to Winthrop
09.22.2022 | Women's Volleyball
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The UNC Asheville volleyball team dropped its Big South opener to Winthrop Thursday night at the Justice Center, 3-0 (25-23, 25-19, 25-17). With the loss, the Bulldogs are now 3-8 overall and 0-1 in Big South play.
Stat Standouts – Kat Cruser led the way for the Bulldogs with 10 kills against the Eagles. It marked Cruser's third straight double-digit kill performance and her fourth in the last five matches. Lexy Cole chipped in with seven kills with an efficient night on the attack (.455 hitting percentage). Pelin Aksoy added seven kills of her own to go with eight digs.
First Set – Winthrop started Thursday's match quickly tallying the first three points of the contest. Facing an early deficit, the Bulldogs battled back. A kill by Aksoy gave Asheville its first lead of the night, 21-20. An attack error by Winthrop then gave the Bulldogs a two-point lead, 22-20. Winthrop quickly tied the score at 22-22 before another Aksoy kill swung the lead back to Asheville, 23-22.
Second Set – After dropping the first set, things looked good for the Bulldogs. Back-to-back aces from M.K. Roberts gave Asheville an early 6-2 lead. Winthrop took a timeout to regroup following the aces by Roberts and the strategy worked. The Eagles eventually took the lead with a kill to make it 12-11. The two teams jostled for momentum and it appeared Winthrop seized it a few points later thanks to a 4-0 run to suddenly grow a two-point lead into a six-point one. Trying to cut into the Eagles lead, the Bulldogs had four kills, but the Winthrop lead proved too large to overcome as the latter took a 2-0 lead in the match, 25-19.
Third Set – The third set began with Asheville and Winthrop trading turns with the lead. The score was tied at one, two, three, 10, and 11 in the early going. However, much like Winthrop did in the second, it built a 4-0 run to swing momentum in its favor. A ball handling error on the next point briefly got the Bulldogs back within three points but that would be as close as they would get as the Eagles finished off the 3-0 sweep, 25-17.
Next Up – The Bulldogs will be back in action on Friday when they host Radford at the Justice Center for another Big South matchup. First serve between the Highlanders and Bulldogs is set for 6 p.m. on ESPN+.
Stat Standouts – Kat Cruser led the way for the Bulldogs with 10 kills against the Eagles. It marked Cruser's third straight double-digit kill performance and her fourth in the last five matches. Lexy Cole chipped in with seven kills with an efficient night on the attack (.455 hitting percentage). Pelin Aksoy added seven kills of her own to go with eight digs.
First Set – Winthrop started Thursday's match quickly tallying the first three points of the contest. Facing an early deficit, the Bulldogs battled back. A kill by Aksoy gave Asheville its first lead of the night, 21-20. An attack error by Winthrop then gave the Bulldogs a two-point lead, 22-20. Winthrop quickly tied the score at 22-22 before another Aksoy kill swung the lead back to Asheville, 23-22.
The Eagles, however, mirrored their early production with a 3-0 run to close out the first frame, 25-23.Tightroping the line for the lead!#ALLinAVL pic.twitter.com/ENrmW63sLa
— Asheville Volleyball (@UNCAvlVB) September 22, 2022
Second Set – After dropping the first set, things looked good for the Bulldogs. Back-to-back aces from M.K. Roberts gave Asheville an early 6-2 lead. Winthrop took a timeout to regroup following the aces by Roberts and the strategy worked. The Eagles eventually took the lead with a kill to make it 12-11. The two teams jostled for momentum and it appeared Winthrop seized it a few points later thanks to a 4-0 run to suddenly grow a two-point lead into a six-point one. Trying to cut into the Eagles lead, the Bulldogs had four kills, but the Winthrop lead proved too large to overcome as the latter took a 2-0 lead in the match, 25-19.
Third Set – The third set began with Asheville and Winthrop trading turns with the lead. The score was tied at one, two, three, 10, and 11 in the early going. However, much like Winthrop did in the second, it built a 4-0 run to swing momentum in its favor. A ball handling error on the next point briefly got the Bulldogs back within three points but that would be as close as they would get as the Eagles finished off the 3-0 sweep, 25-17.
Next Up – The Bulldogs will be back in action on Friday when they host Radford at the Justice Center for another Big South matchup. First serve between the Highlanders and Bulldogs is set for 6 p.m. on ESPN+.
Team Stats
Win
UNC-A
Kills
49
35
Errors
11
16
Attempts
110
112
Hitting %
.345
.170
Points
56
38
Assists
46
34
Aces
3
3
Blocks
4
0
Game Leaders
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
5
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's Volleyball
L
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