Winthrop 3, The Citadel 0
Charleston, S.C. – Led by Jackie Landers' 17 kills, Winthrop earned a 25-20, 25-15, 25-22 non-conference win over The Citadel at McAlister Field House in Tuesday evening volleyball action.
The Eagles (16-12) took advantage of double-digit kills by Landers and Irene Ojukwu (12 kills) to finish with 50 team kills and a .277 attack percentage. The offense was clicking on all cylinders behind the 45-assist performance of Jessie Vicic. Defensively Winthrop used an 18-dig performance by Maria Volstad.
The Citadel (5-26) was led offensively by junior Amanda Rudnik who posted eight kills and a .318 attack percentage. The Dogs also got a lift from the freshman tandem of Megan Sowell and Samantha Espy who tallied four kills apiece. Senior Erin Bucherl recorded a team-high 13 digs while Rachel Keefer and Dominique Williams tallied three assisted blocks to high the Cadets defensive efforts.
Winthrop used pair of Annika Rigterink kills to rebound from a 4-2 deficit, putting Michelle Steagall in serve, and eventually assume a 6-4 advantage. That two-point lead eventually reached six, 15-9, following four straight Eagle kills, including two by Jackie Landers. Trailing by seven, following their first timeout of the set, The Citadel capitalized on two kills by Samantha Espy, to pull within four, 21-17. Two kills by Ojukwu and one off the hand of Landers allowed Winthrop to take the opening set, 25-20.
The duo of Landers and Ojukwu combined for four kills each as Winthrop streaked out to a 10-3 lead in the early stages of the second set. The Bulldogs bounced back with two Rachel Keefer kills and an unforced error to pull within five, 11-6, before a 5-1 run by the Eagles stretched the margin back to double digits. With Espy in serve, following a Rudnik kill, The Citadel used four Landers' attack errors to crawl back within four points of the lead, 18-14. Winthrop closed out the set on a 7-1 run to assume the two-game advantage, 25-15.
In a tightly contested third set the Eagles established themselves early with a 10-6 lead on a kill by Ojukwu. The Bulldogs continued to push offensively and eventually pulled with one, 21-20, following a pair of Sowell kills. After a Winthrop error deadlocked the set at 21-21, the Eagles rattled off four of the next five points to complete the sweep, 25-22.