Bucs Comeback Halted in a 3-1 Loss at Winthrop

ROCK HILL, S.C. – Charleston Southern continued their struggles on the road, dropping a 3-1 contest (25-22, 25-15, 22-25, 25-15) against the Winthrop Eagles, Tuesday at the Winthrop Coliseum.  The Bucs started a comeback in the third set, taking a 25-22 win after hitting .333 as a team, but it was short lived, with the Eagles closing the match out after a 25-15 score.  CSU dropped to 11-13 on the season and 2-7 in the Big South, while Winthrop improved to 15-7 with a 7-2 mark in the conference.

Nichole Diller continued to come on strong in her senior year, leading the way with 10 kills 10 digs.  Cori Holeman also recorded nine kills and six blocks, while Amanda Hill contributed eight kills and 13 digs.  The Eagles put four in double figures, while Kelsey Hall had a match best 56 assists.  

The first set was complete with 10 ties and three lead changes, starting with a 3-1 advantage for CSU.  Winthrop quickly came back to tie things up at three apiece and it stayed tied out to the 11-11 mark.  The Eagles managed a 4-0 burst, but the Bucs were not out of it yet.  CSU had four unanswered of their own to tie it again at 18-18, thanks to kills from Hill and Amberle Trinder.  Tied again at 20-20, a 3-0 run from the Eagles would be the difference, as they went on to take a 25-22 win.  

The Bucs jumped out to a 3-1 lead again in the second set, thanks to a kill from Emily Libertowski.  Winthrop put things away early in this frame, using a 14-4 run from there to take a 15-7 advantage.  CSU managed to cut into the deficit with a 16-10 score after kills from Libertowski and Hill, but that would be as close as they would get.  The Bucs tallied eight errors in the second set and the Eagles took advantage, cruising to a 25-15. 

CSU turned around in the third set, showing some life with a .333 attack percent.  Winthrop looked to close out the match with a sweep, starting with a 7-2 run.  The Bucs had other plans however, battling back to within one at an 11-10 score, on a Sam Sasan kill.  After the Eagles took a 13-10 lead, CSU rattled off eight consecutive points to take an 18-13 edge.  Winthrop used runs of their own to get within one, but three kills from Diller in the late points helped the Bucs get on the board with a 25-22 win.

CSU took some momentum over into the fourth set, taking another 3-1 lead, but five ties and three lead changes would soon follow.  The Eagles tied the score at 5-5, but the Bucs still held a slim margin out at the 11-10 mark.  It was all Winthrop from there however, as they used a 12-1 run to take control and put the set out of reach.  Diller had another late kill, but it wouldn’t slow down the Eagles, who took another 25-15 win to seal the match.  

CSU will play their final of five straight road games this weekend, when they travel to play the Presbyterian Blue Hose on Saturday, October 24th, at 6 p.m.