Eagles volleyball team begins quest for BSC championship

By Karl Lyles - klyles@heraldonline.com

A handful of Winthrop volleyball players wandered onto the courts at the West Center on campus Monday for practice. About half the team was in the training room being treated for a variety of bumps and bruises. It is, after all, late in a grueling season.

Winthrop will go into the Big South volleyball tournament, beginning Thursday in Radford, Va., as the third-seeded team. The Eagles (19-10, 11-5 BSC) will play Charleston Southern at 2:30 p.m. in the first round. Winthrop won both meetings with the Buccaneers this season .

“We match up very well with Charleston Southern,” Winthrop coach Sally Polhamus said. “We have taken them out of the match early.”

But beating a team three times in a season is a challenge.

“Charleston Southern is scrappy,” senior outside hitter Kelley Taylor said. “They defend well and have a couple strong forces at the net.”

Winthrop was picked fifth in the preseason coaches poll, but Polhamus thought her team could contend.

“I knew it would take us a while to get going, but halfway through the season I knew we were capable of competing for a conference championship,” Polhamus said.

UNC Asheville has earned the No. 1 seed as it claimed its first regular-season title since 2002. The Bulldogs and Liberty finished as co-champions of the regular season with identical 13-3 conference records, but Asheville earned the No. 1 seed with its season sweep of the Lady Flames.

Asheville claimed its first regular-season championship since 2002 and fifth overall, while Liberty shared the regular-season title for the third consecutive year. It also is the third-straight year that co-champions have been crowned for the regular season.