BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - The Gardner-Webb volleyball team (12-18, 3-10 Big South) welcomes Winthrop (17-6, 11-2 Big South) to Paul Porter Arena on Friday night, the Runnin' Bulldogs home finale in 2025

FRIDAY GAME INFORMATION
Game 31: Winthrop (17-6, 11-2 Big South) at Gardner-Webb (12-18, 3-10 Big South)
Location: Paul Porter Arena - Boiling Springs, N.C.
First Serve: 6:00 pm
Stream: ESPN Plus
Most Recent Meeting: 2025 - Winthrop 3, Gardner-Webb 2
Series History: Winthrop leads 36-4

GARDNER-WEBB NOTES

• In the reverse match-up in the Big South Conference, the Runnin' Bulldogs nearly sprung an early season upset in Rock Hill, falling 3-2 at Winthrop on September 26th
• GWU is in search of its first win against Winthrop sincd 2016, and first win against the Eagles in Boiling Springs since 2015
• Gardner-Webb is led on the attack by a freshman and a sophomore. Freshman outside hitter Haedyn Crumbley has a team-high 216 kills, followed by sophomore outside hitter Samia Sayd with 189
• Redshirt junior Serena Kohler posted her best game of the season last time out against Charleston Southern, with 19 kills. 20 digs and a .288% hitting percentage
• In the assist column, sophomore setter Olivia Lefebvre leads the way for GWU with 602, and over 5.4 per set. Lefebvre has posted a series of career games in Big South play with her top-five best performances all coming since league play opened in September, including 39 assists at High Point and 30 at Winthrop
• Junior middle Milla Lugo is top ten in the Big South Conference in hitting percentage in league games, with 65 kills at a tune of .288%. Lugo is also top five in the league in total blocks since the start of conference play with 54
• On the defensive end, graduate libero Nalani McBride has been excellent, with 632 digs and 5.69 digs per set this season. McBride remains the national leader in total digs, and sits top five in digs per set across all of NCAA Division I, while also remaining in reach of the program record of 660 digs in one season
• McBride recently reached a career milestone as well, recording her 1000th dig between Gardner-Webb and Temple against Radford on October 25th, on the way to claiming her fifth of what is now six Big South Libero of The Week Awards
• Among a team of mostly freshman and sophomores, freshman right side Sarina Galyean has seen some excellent play for GWU, with 80 total kills including 12 against Marshall and 10 against Queens in consecutive games earlier this season
• Other newcomers to the team include redshirt freshman right side Alexis Maesch, who has standout games this season against Campbell with 12 kills and a .241% hitting percentage, and Radford on October 25th with seven kills, two block assists and a .500 hitting percentage
• Junior outside hitter Nicole Osborne has emerged in a big way for Gardner-Webb over the last three weeks, recording 13 kills, eight digs against Charleston Southern on October 31st, then doing one better with 15 kills, four digs and four total blocks at USC Upstate on November 7th
• As a team, Gardner-Webb ranks first in the Big South in several key categories, with 1330 kills, 65 solo blocks, 162 service aces, and 2048 digs
• With the aforementioned win over Radford, the Runnin' Bulldogs have reached double-digit wins for only the second time since 2017 and for the first time since 2023