Eagle Digs

News

11/26 Cougars defeat Eagles in season finale

The Winthrop volleyball team completed their 2008 season Wednesday afternoon as they fell to the College of Charleston Cougars 3-0 at the Winthrop Coliseum.

The Eagles completed their season with an 11-20 record while the Cougars improved to 27-7.

Senior Shannon Sitzmann, playing in her last match as an Eagle, finished with 15 kills, a .312 hitting percentage and eight digs. Sophomore setter Kelsey Hall had 18 assists while freshman libero Janice Rivera tallied 11 digs.

"Shannon finished her career strong," Polhamus said. "It has been an honor to work with her. Shannon’s competitiveness and passion on and off the court sets her apart from other players."

11/21 Winthrop drops tourney opener to UNC Asheville

The Winthrop volleyball team fell to the UNC Asheville Bulldogs 3-1 in the quarterfinals of the Big South Tournament Friday evening at the Justice Center.

With the loss, the Eagles complete their season with an 11- 19 overall record. Asheville improved to 17-13 and advanced to take on the top-seeded Liberty Flames Saturday at 7 p.m. In the other semifinal the High Point Panthers will face the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Saturday at 4:30 p.m.

The Eagles had three players in double-digit kills, being led by senior middle hitter Shannon Sitzmann who finished with 16 kills and 13 digs for her sixth double-double of the season. Sophomore outside hitter Kaley Viola had 10 kills while sophomore middle hitter Sara Felts tallied 10 kills as well. Freshman libero Janice Rivera led the Eagles in digs with 24

11/20 Eagles claim four Big South Conference awards.

The Winthrop volleyball team walked away with four awards Thursday night at the annual Big South Conference Awards Banquet.

Senior middle hitter Shannon Sitzmann, the Preseason Player of the Year, was named to the Big South All-Conference First Team and also brought home a spot on the Big South All- Academic Team. Sitzmann currently leads the Eagles in kills with 379, hitting percentage with .253 and total points with 432.

Junior right-side hitter Kelley Taylor was named to the Big South All-Conference Second Team, her first such award as an Eagle. Taylor is second on the team in kills with 270 and leads the team in blocks with 94 total blocks.

Freshman libero Janice Rivera was named to the Big South All- Freshman Team after she has led the Eagles in digs this season with 492 and an average of 4.64 digs per set.

The Eagles will be in action Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. as they take on the UNC Asheville Bulldogs in the quarterfinals of the Big South Tournament.

11/16 Eagles finish regular season on a high note.

The Winthrop volleyball team completed the regular season on a high note Sunday afternoon as they defeated the Radford Highlanders 3-0.

The victory was key for the Eagles as it allowed them to finish in fifth place in the conference. The Eagles go into the tournament as the fifth seed and will play UNC Asheville, the fourth seed, in the first round of the conference tournament.

With the win, the Eagles finish the regular season with a 7- 9 Big South record and an 11-18 record overall. Radford fell to 9-18 overall and 4-12 in the Big South.

11/15 Flames down Eagles in straight sets.

The Winthrop volleyball team dropped a conference match 0-3 to the Liberty Flames Saturday evening at the Vines Center.The extra preparation time seemed only to fuel Liberty (22- 8, 13-3) as they defeated the Eagles (10-18, 6-9) 25-17, 25- 13 and 25-18.

"We didn’t pass at a high efficiency tonight and we weren’t able to effectively run our offense," head coach Sally Polhamus said. “At times we played very strong defense, but we were unable to maintain it.”

Winthrop was led offensively by senior outside hitter Shannon Sitzmann who finished the match with 13 kills. Defensively, freshman libero Janice Rivera led the team with 13 digs.

11/11 Eagle drop tough match to Chants.

The Winthrop volleyball team dropped a hard- fought five-set match to the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Tuesday evening at the Winthrop Coliseum in Big South action.

The Eagles (10-17, 6-8) were led offensively by junior right- side hitter Kelley Taylor who finished the match with 17 kills and a .278 hitting percentage. Taylor also added nine total blocks. Senior middle hitter Shannon Sitzmann tallied 12 kills and 10 digs. Freshman setter Chrissie Albers finished the match with six kills with a .353 hitting percentage, 25 assists and 12 digs. Freshman libero Janice Rivera had 24 digs and two service aces.

11/7 Sitzmann has strong Senior night performance but Eagles fall to High Point.

On volleyball senior night at the Winthrop Coliseum, the backing of the Eagle faithful was not enough to will the Eagles to victory as they fell to the High Point Panthers 3-1.

"The crowd really helped our momentum in the second set," head coach Sally Polhamus said. "It was great to have the support of the students and the Rock Hill community."

11/4 Eagles garner first road win

The Eagles picked up their first road win of the season Tuesday evening as they defeated the Charleston Southern Buccaneers 3-1 at the CSU Fieldhouse in Big South Conference action.

With the victory the Eagles improved to 6-6 in the conference and 10-15 overall while Charleston fell to 13-17 overall and 2-11 in the Big South.

7

11/1 UNC Asheville edges Winthrop

The Winthrop volleyball team fell to the UNC Asheville Bulldogs 3-2 Saturday afternoon at the Justice Center, despite besting the Bulldogs in almost all statistical categories.

The Eagles fall to 9-15 overall and 5-6 in the Big South while Asheville improves to 12-11 overall and 4-6 in conference play. The victory for the Bulldogs was the first over Winthrop since 2002, a span of 15 matches.

10/31 Eagles fall to Blue Hose

The Winthrop volleyball team fell 3-0 in Big South Conference play to the Presbyterian Blue Hose Friday evening.

Winthrop fell on the season to 9-14 overall and 5-5 in conference play while Presbyterian improved to 7-17 overall and 4-7 in the Big South. The victory was the first for the Blue Hose in nine attempts against the Eagles.

10/18 Eagles whip Highlanders

The Winthrop volleyball team swept the Radford Highlanders 3-0 Saturday afternoon at the Winthrop Coliseum.

With the victory, the Eagles improved their record to 8-13 overall and 4-3 in the conference. Radford fell to 7-11 overall and 2-6 in Big South play.

"Overall, we played together as a team and executed at a high level," head coach Sally Polhamus said. "We served aggressively and played our game. We had a very diverse offense which is something we have been striving for all season."

10/17 Liberty overpowers Winthrop

The Winthrop volleyball team fought hard on "Cram the Coliseum" night in a 3-0 loss to the second- place Liberty Flames.

Winthrop dropped their record to 7-13 overall and 3-4 in the conference. Liberty improved their overall record to 16-6 and 7-1 in the conference.

10/14 Charleston Southern can't get off the blocks

The Winthrop volleyball team held a block party Tuesday night in their five-set victory over the Charleston Southern Buccaneers.

The Eagles, who totaled 19.5 team blocks, a half block short of the team record, improved their record to 7-12 overall and 3-3 in Big South action while Charleston fell to 13-10 overall and 2-4 in the conference.

10/12 Eagles dominate 49ers

The Eagles defeated the Charlotte 49ers 3-0 Sunday afternoon at the Winthrop Coliseum in non-conference volleyball action. Winthrop improved their overall record to 6-12 while the 49ers fell to 8-12.

Senior middle hitter Shannon Sitzmann notched her first double-double of the season as she tied for the team lead with 11 kills and also added 11 digs. Sitzmann finished with a .357 hitting percentage. Also in double-digit kills was freshman outside hitter Lauren Huber who had 11. Freshman setter Chrissie Albers led Winthrop with 21 assists while freshman libero Janice Rivera had 22 digs.

10/10 Panthers hand Eagles second straight conference loss

The Winthrop volleyball team dropped their second straight match Friday evening as they fell to the High Point Panthers 3-1. The Eagles (5-12, 2-3) lost to the first-place Panthers (17- 3, 6-0) 18-25, 14-25, 25-22 and 14-25.

10/7 Eagles lose to Chants

The Eagles dropped their second conference match of the season 3-1 to the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Tuesday night at Kimbel Arena in Conway, SC. The match, touted as DIG PINK, was used as a fundraiser for breast cancer support. “Coastal had a great atmosphere for Dig for the Cure,” head coach Sally Polhamus said. Winthrop fell to 5-11 overall and 2-2 in the conference while Coastal improved to 13-7 overall and 3-2 in conference action. This was Coastal’s first victory over the Eagles since 2003.

10/6 Winthrop’s Janice Rivera again named the Big South Libero of the Week.

Rivera, a freshman from Windermere, Fla. finished the two- match weekend with 42 digs in nine sets for an average of 4.67 digs per set. She also posted two assists and two service aces on the weekend. This is Rivera’s second Libero of the Week award this season.

10/4 Eagles down Bulldogs 3 - 2

The Winthrop volleyball team won their second straight match Saturday afternoon as they defeated the UNC Asheville Bulldogs 3-2 at the Winthrop Coliseum. Winthrop (5-10, 2-1) took out the Bulldogs (8-7, 0-2) in five sets 25-22, 25-27, 25-18, 23-25 and 15-11.

10/3 Winthrop defeats Presbyterian 3 - 1 in front of record crowd

The Winthrop volleyball team snapped their eight-match losing streak and won their first conference match of the season over Presbyterian College Friday evening at the Winthrop Coliseum. Winthrop (4-10, 1-1) downed the Blue Hose (3-12, 0-3) 25-20, 25-11, 21-25, 25-20 in front of a record crowd for Winthrop volleyball of 611.

09/22 Janice Rivera Named Big South Libero of the Week

Winthrop Janice Rivera has been named the Big South Conference Libero of the Week as announced today by the Big South Conference.

Rivera, a freshman from Windermere, Fla. totaled 52 digs and an average of 5.20 digs per set over the weekend at the Gopher Invitational in Minneapolis, Minn.

09/09 Eagles To Play First Televised Winthrop Volleyball Match

The Winthrop volleyball team’s match Friday evening against the College of Charleston at 5 p.m. will be broadcast live on SCETV, marking the first ever Winthrop volleyball match to have a live television broadcast.