ROCK HILL, S.C. --- Taylor Lillard (Victorville, Calif.) paced three Gardner-Webb players in double-figure kills with 15 smashes as Winthrop staged a fourth-set rally to seal a 3-1 victory in Big South Conference play on Friday evening.
Winthrop (10-17, 5-7 Big South) won the match by scores of 25-15, 25-27, 25-19 and 25-23, attacking at a .240 clip while holding Gardner-Webb (9-19, 3-8 Big South) to a hitting percentage of .158 on the night. The Eagles accounted for 62 kills, 75 digs and eight blocks compared to 49 smashes, 67 digs and 10 stuffs for the Runnin' Bulldogs.
Lillard led the way for Gardner-Webb with 15 kills as Tyra Montour (Kennesaw, Ga.) added 13 smashes to move into seventh on the program's Division I list with 813 career kills. The senior middle also posted two blocks to climb past current Gardner-Webb assistant coach Beth Martin for third on the school's Division I list.
Anna Pashkova (Iowa City, Iowa) pulled closer to third on the Big South's all-time list with 22 digs in the contest, moving to within 13 of passing Presbyterian alum Mary Trimpe's career total of 2,266. Kaelyn Dyson (Holly Springs, N.C.) chipped in 10 kills, while Justine Bowers (Dana Point, Calif.) totaled 38 assists and seven digs. Sydney Marshall (Norcross, Ga.) and Dyson each posted a team-high three blocks.
Nikki Drost paced the Eagles with a match-high 17 kills, while Brianna Gray and Emma Weakland both added 14 smashes and hitting percentages of .462 and .417, respectively. Mallary McFadden and Madilyn McCarty recorded match-highs of 27 digs and 56 assists, respectively, as Rachel Lenz tallied a contest-best six blocks.
Winthrop got off to a strong start in the opening set, breaking an early 8-8 deadlock with an 11-2 run that was capped by a Gray smash. The Eagles kept pushing the tempo over the next several minutes, scoring six of the set's final 11 points to take a 1-0 lead in the match following a tandem block by Lenz and Weakland.
The Runnin' Bulldogs fought back in the second, rallying from an 18-16 deficit to push the Eagles to set point at 24-20 on a solo stuff by Marshall. Winthrop would answer with four straight tallies, evening the score at 24-24 following a McCarty kill. Gardner-Webb quickly countered with three of the next four points, knotting the match at 1-1 with a Marshall block.
Winthrop responded early in the third set, opening the frame with a 10-4 run before Gardner-Webb answered with three straight to trim the margin to 10-7. The teams went back-and-forth with several short runs over the next several minutes, with Winthrop claiming a 19-15 advantage on a Gray kill to answer a 3-0 Gardner-Webb spurt.
The Eagles would score six of the next 10 points to close out the set, and take a 2-1 lead in the match following back-to-back smashes by Gray and Drost.
Winthrop answered an early 5-3 Gardner-Webb spurt in the fourth with a 12-5 run of its own, claiming a 15-10 advantage following back-to-back smashes from Weakland. The Runnin' Bulldogs quickly countered with 10 of the next 13 points, retaking the lead at 20-18 on three straight kills by Montour.
The Eagles would responded with back-to-back tallies, evening the score at 20-20 before Gardner-Webb scored three of the next five points to claim a narrow 23-22 advantage on a smash from Lillard.
Winthrop quickly took a timeout that paid immediate dividends, spurring the Eagles on a 3-0 spurt to rally for a 25-23 fourth-set win and a 3-1 victory in the match.
Gardner-Webb returns to the court on Saturday afternoon when the Runnin' Bulldogs travel to Clinton, S.C. to take on Presbyterian in Big South play at 2:00 pm.
