University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
8-17,5-7Big South
Winthrop
16-6,10-2Big South
Asheville Drops Friday Night Match to Winthrop
11.07.2025 | Women's Volleyball
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - UNC Asheville fell to Winthrop 3-1 on Friday night (Nov. 7), going 25-17 19-25, 26-24, 25-17. The setback moved the Bulldogs to 8-17 and 5-7 in Big South play.
The Bulldogs were paced offensively by Ana Djurovic and Kylie Cackovic, who both reached double figures with 10 and 11 kills respectively. Djurovic added 15 digs to her stat line, second only to libero Michelle Thao who led the defense with 17 digs. Payton Rolfsen dished out a team-high of 24 out of 42 assists for Asheville, also adding 11 digs and a service ace.
Middle blocker Lydia Pate got three solo blocks and two block assists for a game-high three blocks.
Overall, the Bulldogs hit.188 with 45 kills and 63 digs, while Winthrop hit .282 with 62 kills and 75 digs.
The Bulldogs started strong by securing the first point of the match with a kill from Djurovic. Asheville then struggled to regain control, tailing Winthrop until a kill from Cackovic evened the score at 4-4. Responding out of the first media timeout, a service ace from Rolfsen and kills from Djurovic and Loeback closed the gap to 13-10 before the Eagles took charge offensively on a six-point streak. The streak was broken by a kill from Cackovic at 19-11. The Bulldogs were competitive in the later stages of the frame, but Winthrop came back to win the set 25-17.
The second set was dominated offensively by the Bulldogs, going on an 8-2 run to surge ahead 19-1. Asheville stayed out front for the remainder of the set, before an ace from Avery Schweiger ended the set at 25-19.
The third set was competitive from both sides, with five lead changes and eight tied scores. Loeback and Djuvoric led Asheville with four kills each, but Winthrop capitalized on late attack errors from Cackovic to conclude the set 26-24. In the closest finish of a set on the night, the Bulldogs and Eagles exchanged blows from 20-20 to 24-24 before the Eagles snuck two kills to close out the set at 26-24.
The battle from the third set continued into the fourth set, with neither team making a clean break with the game tied at 13-13. Two kills in a row for the Eagles created momentum that carried to the end of the set, despite a service ace followed by a kill from Djurovic which closed the gap to 17-15. The Eagles then regained control, leading the match to end the final set at 25-17.
Asheville will return to the Justice Center on Saturday, Nov. 8, at 2 p.m. for their final home match against Gardner-Webb.
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