Lady Eagles looking to turn luck around

By Karl Lyles - kyles@heraldonline.com

Winthrop's volleyball team hosts the Hilton Garden Inn Invitational on Friday and Saturday at the Winthrop Coliseum. The Lady Eagles (1-4) are fresh off their first win Saturday against Florida Atlantic.

The Butler Bulldogs (6-3), out of the Horizon League, probably are the elite team in the tournament. Outside hitter Jessica Wolfe was the Horizon League offensive player of the week. She averages 4.64 kills.

Morgan State (3-6) represents the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and is coached by Ramona Riley-Bozier, who has 347 wins in 21 seasons.

Appalachian State (2-4) is looking to improve on a 2008 season in which the team posted a 7-25 record. The Mountaineers are the biggest team in the field with seven players 6 feet or taller.

Maja Jechorek, from Poland, leads the team with 3.5 kills per game.

North Carolina Central, a CIAA power, is the lone Division II school in the tournament. Coach Georgette Crawford-Crooks, a native of Kingston, Jamaica, has assembled a team with several Caribbean ties. She has five players from Jamaica and one each from Trinidad and Barbados. NCCU's only win was against Big South Conference member High Point.

MORE VOLLEYBALL — Kelley Taylor and Kaley Viola, both from Florida, were named to the 2009 Best Western Invitational All-Tournament Team at South Florida last weekend.

Taylor is a senior right side hitter who was playing in her hometown of Tampa, Fla. She made the Big Orange Bash All-Tournament Team selection two weeks ago at Clemson. In the two matches at USF, Taylor combined for a .414 hitting percentage with 16 kills and added five block assists.

Viola, a junior outside hitter from Orlando, Fla., earned her first collegiate all-tournament team honor as she hit a combined .149 and led the Eagles with 17 kills. She assisted on three blocks and had 10 digs in the two matches.

MEN'S SOCCER — The Eagles opened up the season with a 3-1 loss at N.C. State and followed with victories over Jacksonville (3-1) and Covenant College (3-2). Winthrop was picked 47th in the TopDrawerSoccer.com preseason top 48, but after the first week have moved up to 46th.

The South Atlantic Region rankings were released Monday, and the Eagles were ranked 13th behind Big South foes High Point (10th) and Gardner-Webb (11th). Winthrop takes on those two teams in back-to-back road games —Oct. 3 at Gardner-Webb and Oct. 7 at High Point.

Winthrop hosts Brevard on Friday and Indiana-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) on Sunday in the Wingate Inn Classic at Eagle Field.

XC STARTS STRONG — The men's cross country team won the Western Carolina Invitational while the women finished second. Carrie Phillips captured her first individual title in the women's 2-mile race.

“Our women looked very aggressive and very good,” coach Ben Paxton said. “That bodes well for the next two months. Once Carly Moss, who is out with a virus, is back to full health, we are going to be a dominant team to reckon with in the conference race.”

The men's team started four freshmen and four sophomores. “It is always good to open the season with a victory, especially with the youth of our men's team,” Paxton said. “They remind me so much of our 1998 team which went on to win back-to-back Big South titles when they were juniors and seniors.”

MEN'S GOLF — Coach Kevin Pendley's team begins the fall season with the Sam Hall Intercollegiate in Hattiesburg, Miss., Sunday through Tuesday.

“We have some experienced guys coming back in Cipriano Ayala, Kyle Bearden and Brandon Truesdale and a very good incoming class in John Conners, Kamito Hirai, Brad Sill, Walt Todd and redshirt freshman Cameron Bell,” Pendley said.

“I would not be shocked to see two or three freshmen in the lineup early in the season.”

WOMEN'S SOCCER — Coach Melissa Heinz's team is searching for its first win. The Lady Eagles' next three games are on the road against Southern Conference teams — Appalachian State (Friday), Wofford (Sunday) and Samford (Sept. 20).

FALL BASEBALL — Coach Joe Hudak and his team are into their fall workouts. All practices and games are open to the public. The team will play games at 3 p.m. today and Friday.

The Eagles play at 6 p.m. Sunday at The Winthrop Ballpark. The team's weekly fall practice schedule will be updated on the Web at winthropeagles.com.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL — Coach Bud Childers has added a walk-on for the 2009-2010 season. Kaitlyn Rubino out of Wando is just the second walk-on Childers has had in his 24-year coaching career. Sophomore guard Tiffany Brown reinjured an ankle and was wearing a boot at a recent team workout. She should be okay by the time the season opens with an exhibition game Nov. 7 against Francis Marion.

Winthrop this week

Friday

Volleyball vs. Morgan State, 11 a.m.

Volleyball vs. Appalachian State, 7 p.m.

Women's soccer at Appalachian State, 7 p.m.

Men's soccer vs. Brevard, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday

Volleyball vs. North Carolina Central, 1 p.m.

Volleyball vs. Butler, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday

Men's golf at Sam Hall Intercollegiate, Hattiesburg, Miss.

Men's soccer vs. IPFW, noon