It was the ninth straight win for the Eagles (15-2, 3-0 SoCon), who got rolling tonight with the help of their serving specialists. Meghan Morillo notched five aces, and Georgia Southern scored 14 points during the sophomore’s serve. The Eagles scored 10 points off of Lauren LaRocque’s serve, and the senior tallied three aces and seven digs.

Kym Coley added eight kills for Georgia Southern, while Nicole Jeschelnik collected seven kills and six digs. Katalin Minnerly finished with 39 assists and 10 digs.

Ise d’Angelo led The Citadel (4-14, 0-3 SoCon) with nine kills, and Rachel Keefer notched 23 assists and 14 digs.

Morillo served up seven straight points for the Eagles, including three consecutive aces, in the first set, as the Eagles turned a 12-11 deficit into an 18-12 lead. 

Four points during Morillo’s serve in the second set extended a two-point lead into a 9-3 cushion. LaRocque added an ace midway through the frame, and the Eagles scored three of the final four points of the set on her serve, including another ace. 

The duo combined to help Georgia Southern score six points on their serve in the third set as the Eagles opened a 20-15 advantage. The Citadel battled back to 22-18, but two Bulldog hitting errors and a kill by Christina Vereb ended the match.

Davidson 3, Winthrop 2
DAVIDSON, N.C. – After squandering a two-set lead, Davidson rallied from a four-point deficit in set five to take a 3-2 victory from the visiting Winthrop Eagles by set scores of 32-30, 25-22, 23-25, 25-27 and 15-13 Tuesday evening at Belk Arena. The match was the Wildcats’ first at home since Aug. 30.

The Wildcats improve to 10-5 with the victory, while the Eagles move to 10-6 on the season following the nonconference tilt. The win also left the ‘Cats undefeated at home at 4-0.

Hitting .206 as a team, Davidson was led by Tindall Sewell’s season-high 12 kills and five block assists. Sewell hit an impressive .588 in leading the ‘Cats, and was joined in double figure kills by Caroline Brown (11). Brown earned her fourth consecutive double-double, her 11th of the season, with a team-high 15 digs.

Taylor Pisel tallied 13 kills and five block assists, while Rachel Earnhardt (11) and Anastasia Owen (14) joined Brown in double figure digs. Freshman Emily Franklin led the blocking effort with seven block assists, while classmate Mikayla Derochie assisted on 46 of the squad’s 56 kills.

Brown also led the team in serving with a trio of aces, while Sarah Roberts rotated in to add a pair as well.

Alina Sopizhuk led Winthrop with 23 kills as the Eagles finished the match hitting .197 as a team. Jesse Vicic assisted on 63 of the squad’s 74 kills, hitting .750 on the night. Vicic also had a team-high 16 digs, while Rachel Lenz and Irene Ojukwu each posted three solo blocks.

After battling their way through the first set, the Wildcats found themselves on the wrong end of a 24-21 score with the Eagles prepared to serve set point. An ace from Roberts and a Winthrop error extended the set before Franklin slammed home a kill to knot things up at 25-25. Back-to-back points from Brown put the ‘Cats in position for victory, but the Eagles would also even the set at 30-30. A kill from Earnhardt and an ace by Brown put the set away in favor of the Wildcats at 32-30.

The Wildcats dominated the second set, hitting .370 as a team with 14 kills. A kill by Sewell made it 18-14 and the ‘Cats didn’t look back from there. Despite three straight points from the Eagles, Brown notched a kill that was soon followed by a Winthrop service error as Davidson took set two, 25-22, to lead the match at 2-0.

Most of the third set looked similar to the second as kills from Sewell and Derochie, along with an attacking error on Winthrop, put the Wildcats in front 15-10. The Eagles rattled off five straight but couldn’t quite tie things up as Davidson held a slim advantage at 16-15. The ‘Cats kept a two-point advantage as they neared set point at 22-20. However, three straight kills from Sopizhuk negated that lead, putting Winthrop in front by one before a pair of Eagle kills gave Winthrop the set 25-23.

The two teams traded points for most of the fourth set before the Wildcats rattled off three straight to create separation with a 22-17 lead. They added two more points to set up match point at 24-19 before the Eagles came from behind to score six straight and take a 25-24 advantage. A kill from Ojukwu and a Davidson error closed out things out for the Eagles at 27-25, forcing a fifth set.

The Eagles held the early advantage in the extra set, taking a 7-3 lead. The Wildcats rallied to take four straight points, earning the 10-9 advantage before Winthrop knotted the set at 10-10. The teams evened things up once again at 13-13 before Brown came up with a kill, followed by a Winthrop error, to seal the deal for Davidson as they took the set 15-13 to claim the match 3-2.