Bulldogs Fall To Winthrop In Regular Season Finale; Feagin Sets Career Mark
November 06, 2007 | Volleyball
ROCK HILL, S.C. – Just a few days after qualifying for its second consecutive Atlantic Sun Conference Championship, the Gardner-Webb volleyball team was unable to carry the momentum it had from defeating Lipscomb by a 3-0 score in a must win match, and fell to nearby Winthrop by a 3-0 margin. Game scores were 28-30, 24-30, 15-30.
The Bulldogs fall to 14-17 on the season while the Eagles improve to 17-10 overall.
With as many records that the senior class and the entire team has set not only this year, but over the course of their careers at Gardner-Webb, it was sophomore Regina Feagin who stole the show in the loss for head coach Chris Phillips' team.
Feagin entered the match just 10 assists shy of the single-season mark that she set a year ago and just 24 shy of shattering the career mark. Down 21-20 in the opening game, Feagin made a beautiful pass to Heidi Steinebrunner, who split the Eagles' defense for her 10th kill of the match and the single-season record.
GWU was unable to catapult itself into the lead, instead recording five ties with the home squad until the last tie at 28-28, which came via a Winthrop miscue. Steinebrunner went up for a kill with the score knotted, but had it blocked as the Eagles secured the lead for good in game one. Winthrop took the hard fought contest by a 30-28 score.
In game two, the Bulldogs to an early lead at 10-9 thanks to another Winthrop miscue. GWU held several one-point leads in the outset of the game, with its last lead coming at 15-14 on an Ashley Pridgeon kill. However, the Bulldogs were unable to sustain the lead as the Eagles gradually got control of the game and inched ahead, eventually winning by a 30-24 margin.
The Bulldogs took an early 2-0 advantage in the third game and things looked bright for the visiting team. However, Winthrop went on a 7-1 run over the next eight points and never trailed again. A bad set by the Eagles allowed GWU to pull within two at 9-7, but Winthrop responded with an 8-0 run to put the game away. From that point on, the Bulldogs were unable to get any closer than eight. Winthrop took the third game 30-15.
Down 2-0 and entering the third game, Feagin needed one more assist in order to claim the school's career record. It wasn't until the Bulldogs were trailing 9-5 did Feagin have an opportunity to notch the record-setting assist. Feagin connected with rookie Carrie Long, who slammed down the ball to record the kill, giving Feagin her 2,575th assist. Feagin surpassed Carrie Brinkley's total of 2,574 that was set from 2002-2005.
Feagin led the offense with 28 assists and had both of the Bulldogs' aces in the match.
Long pummeled the defense for eight kills and a .389 attack percentage while Steinebrunner also amassed eight kills in the match. Pridgeon notched seven in the contest.
Defensively, Katie Matykowski had 11 digs while Audra Harrison chipped in nine. Pridgeon and Feagin each amassed eight.
Feagin, who had a solid all-around match, tied for the team lead with three block assists. Senior Jackie Mathison also recorded three block assists.
The Bulldogs have over a week to prepare for their next opponent, the Jacksonville Dolphins. The two teams will tangle in Mercer in the first round of the A-Sun Championship on Nov. 15. Game time has not been announced by the conference office but it will be at either 5 p.m. or 7:30 p.m.
For all the information regarding the A-Sun Tournament, you can
go to http://www.atlanticsun.org/volleyball/championship/ or
continue to check for updates on gwusports.com as they become
available.
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