Winthrop Downs Asheville in Three Games - UNC Asheville Bulldogs Official Athletics Site

Oct. 23, 2005

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Winthrop won its 30th straight Big South Conference match with a 3-0 league victory over homestanding UNC Asheville at Justice Center Sunday afternoon. The Eagles won the match 30-23, 31-29, 30-

Winthrop (19-4, 9-0 BSC) also won its 13th straight match. The Lady Eagles were led by Tori Grafemen with 18 kills, while Taryn Surbaugh had a great match with 13 kills and five services aces.

UNC Asheville (17-5, 6-3 BSC) was led by Elif Unlu with 13 kills and 10 digs. Rose Butler finished with 10 kills. Talia Ogle chipped in 16 digs, while Krysti Haves contributed 10 digs.

"We played pretty well the first two games but didn't play too well in the third game," commented Asheville coach Julie Torbett. "We did some good things today but Winthrop is a very good team. They have a lot of weapons to use and they used them today."

The first game was close until Winthrop went on a 10-4 run to end the game and win 30-23. In the second game, the Bulldogs led 21-18 before the Lady Eagles went on a 5-0 run to grab a 23-21 lead. Winthrop eventually build the lead to 29-26 before the Bulldogs stormed back to tie the game at 29-29 behind two kills from Unlu. But Winthrop would get the final two points of the game, the final point being a kill from Grafeman to go up 2-0.

In the third game, Winthrop used strong serving from Surbaugh to build a quick 9-2 lead. She had three straight service aces during a 7-0 Eagle run. The Bulldogs closed to 20-14 but could get no closer.

UNC Asheville plays at Charleston Southern this Friday night at 7 p.m., while Winthrop hosts Radford on Friday night, also at 7 p.m.