Oct. 27, 2001

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Winthrop University won its sixth-straight match and snapped Samford University's four match win streak with a 3-2 victory at Seibert Hall Saturday morning.

Winthrop moved to 18-9 on season with a balanced offense and a scrappy defense. The Eagles had four players with double-figure kills and five players had double-figure digs. Erin Lehman led the way with 18 kills and 12 digs, Ashlea Thomas also had 18 kills. Sarah Brown had 17 kills and Jennifer Pritchard posted 16 kills for the visitors. Defensively Odette Parris had 15 digs and Amy Coccia had 14 digs for the Eagles.

Samford (11-13) had three players post double-doubles. Whitney Miller led the way with 19 kills and 12 digs, Shellie Ouldhouse had 14 kills and 11 digs, and Abby Miner contributed 12 kills and 14 digs. Ouldhouse and Stefanie Pickett each totaled seven blocks as the Bulldogs recorded 15.5 blocks for the match.

Samford was strong in the opening game scoring 10 of the first 15 points. The Bulldogs would build a17-13 lead before Winthrop began to battle back and even the game at 22. The teams exchanged points to 26-26 before back-to-back kills by Miller gave Samford a 28-26 lead. Miller also put down the final kill of the game to give Samford a 30-28 win.

Winthrop won games two and three 30-20 and 30-25. The Eagles opened the second game scoring 11 points in a row off the serving of Anna Vagstad to build an 11-1 lead. Game three was tight up to 19 all. The Eagles went on an 11-6 run to take a two-games to one lead. The turning point of the game was an apparent ace by Samford which was replayed because of an early whistle. Instead of Samford going ahead 20-18, The game was tied and Winthrop used the momentum to finish the game.

Samford rebounded in game four by using an 8-4 run with the game tied at 11 to build a 19-15 lead. The Bulldogs had game point at 29-20, but allowed the Eagles five-straight points before Miller again ended the game 30-25.

The deciding game was even at 10 when Winthrop took a timeout. The Eagles came out of the timeout and scored back-to-back points off Samford miscues. From there all Winthrop had to do was side out with the Bulldogs. Lehman put down the final point and Winthrop had the 15-12 victory.

Samford will be back in action on Tuesday. The Bulldogs will host the University of Alabama at 7 p.m. at Seibert Hall.