The Charleston Southern volleyball team saw their four-match winning streak come to an end on Friday night as they lost to the Winthrop Eagles 3-2 in the final match of the regular season.
In her final game at the Buc Dome,
Peyton Thompson led the way for CSU (15-15, 8-8) with 15 kills. Emily Struckmeyer and
Indigo Young both had five blocks each, and Jyriah Morgan was right behind them with four.
Emilee Karelse had 33 assists and Julia Fledderjohn had 24 digs.
Set One
The Buccaneers came out fighting early on, quickly jumping out to 3-0 lead in the first set. From there, they were dominant for most of the way. They went on a 7-1 run mid-way through to take a 19-11 lead. Thompson had four kills during that run as well as a service ace. Despite a late effort from Winthrop, the Bucs were able to erase a 7-0 run to take a 25-21 victory.
Set Two
After falling behind 2-0 to start the set, Winthrop went on a 9-3 run to take a 9-5 lead. After both teams traded points,
Angelika Rusin picked up a service ace to cut the deficit to 13-11. After that, the Eagles outscored the Buccaneers 11-6 to take the set 25-18 and even things up at one.
Set Three
The Eagles came out firing with three kills and a service ace to take a 4-1 lead; however, the Bucs went on a run and took the lead 9-8 on thanks to three straight attack errors on Winthrop. In a back-and-forth battle, the Bucs took the lead 21-19 on a kill by Morgan and blocks by Struckmeyer and Thompson.
After that, it was all Winthrop, as they finished the set on a 6-0 run, winning 25-21 and taking a 2-1 set lead.
Set Four
The Bucs struggled early on in the fourth set, falling behind 10-6. A 6-0 run changed that though, as the Bucs took the lead 13-12 with a kill by Thompson. She had two kills during that run, and Rusin had a service ace.
That would not be the only run for the Bucs, as they went on another 6-1 run later in the set with a kill by Thompson and Sophia Kluska, which gave them a 19-14 lead. The Eagles tried to come back, cutting the deficit to just one, but the Bucs evened things up with a 25-23 win thanks to Young, who finished it with a kill.
Set Five
The Bucs carried that momentum into the fifth set, jumping out to a 3-1 lead with two kills by Morgan. Winthrop came fighting back though, taking a 9-6 lead with back-to-back service aces.
Then, down 12-8, the Bucs went on a 5-1 run to take a 14-13 lead and set up a match point. Struckmeyer, Morgan and Giada Pais-Marden all had blocks during that run. Down 14-13, the Eagles scored the final three points of the match and earned 16-14 win.
Despite the loss, Charleston Southern was able to clinch a spot in the Big South Tournament next weekend in High Point. Gametimes and other details will come later this week.
