Bulldogs Win Historic Match-up Against Winthrop In Five-Set Thriller
September 27, 2008 | Volleyball
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Saturday afternoon was a historic day for the Gardner-Webb volleyball program as it marked the first-ever home Big South Conference match. The contest will not only go down the first-ever, but it will also go down as one of the biggest wins in the program's Division I history.
The Bulldogs came from behind to defeat Winthrop 3-2 (18-25, 26-24, 26-24, 16-25, 16-14) in front of 519 frenzied fans in Paul Porter Arena.
The win pushed GWU to 4-11 on the season and 2-0 in Big South Conference play while the Eagles fall to 3-10 overall and 0-1 in conference competition.
Trailing 12-10 in the fifth set, senior Heidi Steinebrunner stepped up and slammed home one of her team-high 16 kills to pull the Bulldogs back into contention. Rookie Tamia Herholz then dropped back to serve and played a perfect ball to Ginnie Talley, who was unable to come up with, tying the score at 12-12.
After two back-to-back errors by GWU, Steinebrunner played a beautifully passed ball by junior Regina Feagin through two defenders, prolonging the Bulldogs' life. Feagin, as she has done so many times in her career for the Red and Black, recorded an ace, knotting the score at 14-14. An attack error by Shannon Sitzmann gave GWU a 15-14 lead while giving the Bulldogs match point, where Feagin served an excellent ball cross court that nipped the sideline for the historic victory.
The win was the first for GWU over the Eagles as the all-time series stands at 9-1 in favor of Winthrop.
In set one, the Bulldogs fell behind early by six points, 12-6, but pulled within four on a couple of occasions. However, Sitzmann was too dominant as she slammed home point after point, giving the Eagles a 25-18 victory and a 1-0 lead in the match.
GWU battled back in set two, taking an early 4-1 lead after a kill by Lauren Evans. The Bulldogs continued to lead by two or three points for most of the set. After Winthrop tied the set at 23, the visitors took the lead on an attack error by GWU. However, the Bulldogs would not unravel as Steinebrunner saw an alley and pegged the ball down to the court to knot the score at 24-24.
Senior Bethany Martin then recorded an ace before an attack error by Kaley Viola gave the Bulldogs a 26-24 win, knotting the contest at 1-1.
GWU and Winthrop had a back-and-forth affair early in set three before head coach Chris Phillips' team got on top 9-8 on a Viola service error. Steinebrunner gave the Bulldogs a two-point lead, which was eventually extended to three (15-12) on another kill by Steinebrunner.
The Bulldogs' defense was stellar all match long, and especially so in set three. By keeping the ball in play, GWU forced Winthrop into unforced errors as Viola once again had an attack error, giving the Bulldogs a 16-12 lead. Steinebrunner's ace forced a Winthrop timeout. However, the run wouldn't stop there as Laura Wilcox found a pass from Evan Moffitt and slammed it home for an 18-12 lead. Wilcox and Lauren Evans would then stuff Sara Felts at the net for a seven-point advantage.
Although Winthrop tried to come back and eventually tied the score at 24-24, Wilcox took consecutive passes from Feagin and found the middle of the court for the 26-24 win.
In the fourth set, GWU played strong early, taking a 5-4 lead on a kill by Evans and once again at 10-9 when Evans found the floor in the middle of six Winthrop players. The Eagles, though, would continue to go back to Sitzmann, who recorded a kill virtually every time she touched the ball in the set. After GWU pulled within three at 18-15, Winthrop went on a 7-1 spurt to end the set, forcing the critical set five that GWU won 16-14.
For the match, a trio of Bulldogs reached double figures in kills with Steinebrunner's 16 leading the way. Evans wasn't too far behind her with 14 while Wilcox posted 13. Moffitt had her best hitting day of her young career, notching a .438 attack percentage with eight kills and one error in 16 attempts. Martin chipped in seven kills.
Junior Regina Feagin had a double-double with 51 assists and 23 digs to go along with a match-high four aces.
Moffitt had a superb all-around contest as she posted 17 digs and seven assists. Herholz added seven digs while junior Brett Wilson had four digs and an ace. Wilson, however, had several terrific service receives, which led to valuable points for GWU.
Senior Katie Matykowski notched 22 digs in the win. In the first set, she surpassed Audra Harrison for the career lead at Gardner-Webb. Matykowski now has 1,598 digs in her three-plus seasons for the Red and Black.
"It's great to be 2-0 in the Big South," Phillips said. "Winthrop is a great team that is loaded offensively and are a terrific defensive squad.
"We played well and we played hard. Playing at home might have given us the edge we needed today. The girls made key plays at key times.
"It was really a good win for us as we played solid across the board. The team showed a lot of character trailing 13-11 in set five and to come back and win. They didn't panic. The team showed poise and showed what they were made of today."
The Bulldogs return to action on Friday, Oct. 3 at 7 p.m., when
they travel to Lynchburg, Va., where they will take on the Flames
of Liberty.
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