ROCK HILL, S.C. – Sophomore Makena Phillips and junior Delaney McCullough each posted 10 kills apiece, but the Gardner-Webb University volleyball team (7-18; 4-11 Big South) was unable to upend Winthrop University (16-9; 11-4 Big South) on the road on Wednesday night, falling to the Eagles in straight sets inside Winthrop Coliseum, 3-0.
 
WU took the three-set victory by set scores of 25-19, 25-22 and 25-16.
 
Phillips, who finished with double-digit kills for the sixth time this season, set a new career best with a .368 hitting percentage on 18 attacks. As for McCullough, who has stepped up in the absence of senior Hannah Donaldson at the net, hit a strong .320 on the evening with her third double-digit kill performance in the last four matches.
 
Senior Kylee Garrison and freshman Kayla Hawkins each added six kills apiece, sophomore Mikah McIntosh registered a match-high 22 digs, and sophomore Tori Weatherley picked up her seventh double-double of the season with 27 assists and a career-high 15 digs.
 
Phillips led the offensive charge early on for Gardner-Webb as the Candler, North Carolina native amassed nine of her 10 kills by the middle portion of set two. But it was not enough for GWU, who was unable to overcome an early 8-4 deficit in the opening frame before dropping a contested back-and-forth battle in the second game.
 
Trailing 11-7 in set two, Gardner-Webb used three consecutive kills – one each from Weatherley, Hawkins and Phillips – to pull to within one. A kill soon thereafter from McCullough knotted the score at 14-all, but the Eagles responded with a 3-0 run and was able to cling onto its lead for the duration of the race to 25 in the evening's most contested frame.
 
The third set then belonged solely to Winthrop as WU surged ahead with a 13-4 run while never looking back en route to clinching victory.

Following one of the best starts to a season in recent memory, Gardner-Webb will now look to right its track for its regular season finale on Saturday, Nov. 13 as the Runnin' Bulldogs travel to face Radford in Virginia at 2 p.m.