On Nov. 5 the Big South Conference released the schedules for men’s and women’s soccer and volleyball. All games are scheduled a week apart for flexibility in case any conflicts or interruptions arise, and travel times have been limited as universities strive to put safety first.
Opening with an away game at Campbell on Sunday, Feb. 21 is the men’s soccer team. The following away games will take place at UNC Asheville, Radford and Presbyterian.
“I am definitely looking forward to playing against Campbell the most. I think it will be a tough game and a true test of how we bond as a team,” freshman forward Grayson Woodard said.
According to Head Coach Daniel Ridenhour, Campbell is the team everyone is trying to “knock out” due to their defensive and attack success in the past. Ridenhour is ready to take on the challenger after beating them 1-0 at Campbell in 2018 and falling just short of another win in 2019.
“They were able to get the result in the game but we performed very well against the best team in the league,” Ridenhour said.
The Eagles are looking forward to finally playing against other college athletes after months of training with the same teammates.
“I think all the boys are prepared for this year and we’re all working very hard on and off the field. It’ll be a tough conference schedule but I believe we will be successful and have a chance at the conference title,” Woodard said.
The Eagles’ first home game will be Sunday, March 7 against USC Upstate. High Point, Gardner-Webb and Longwood will be the remaining home games.
“Our focus as a group this fall in the brief time we have been able to train has been to be more aggressive with our pressing, more willing to build out of the back and take more risk in the final third to goal,” Coach Ridenhour said.
There are some games on the schedule that may be subject to change, but with only four teams qualified for the spring conference tournament, the Eagles remain positive and ready for the challenge.
“Playing games [and] having fun on the training field are the things I am looking forward to the most,” Ridenhour said. “Seeing our four seniors graduate from Winthrop University is also at the top of the list.”
The women’s soccer team will kick off their spring season at home with a game against High Point first on Sunday, Feb. 2.
As a freshman on the team, defender Katy Feskorn did not have any specific team she was anxious to play, but her older teammates are most anticipating the High Point game.
“[Apparently] it’s always a really intense game and hard fought game. Also, it’s our season opener and probably the first game most of us will have played in awhile so it’ll be good to just get back on the field,” Feskorn said.
“I know every game is challenging. All our opponents are talented and well coached so we will need to be at our best to get the results we hope for,” Head Coach Spencer Smith said.
Known as a “floating mid-week game,” the date for the home game against Charleston Southern wil be agreed upon by both teams, but is to be played no later than March 17.
“This season doesn’t allow us to compete out of conference so it will be vital for us to be ready from the opening match. We are invading new territory with a spring season so I can imagine the players and coaches will learn quite a bit once we get started,” Smith said.
“I’m just grateful for what we can get in this crazy time we’re living in. Obviously I wish we had more games to play but I’ll take what we can get,” Feskorn said.
Competitions against Presbyterian, USC Upstate, UNC Asheville, Longwood and Campbell will be the away games of the season. The Eagles will end on a home game against Radford on Thursday, April 8 before the Big South Championship begins.
“We’ve been training really hard and I know I plan to continue to train even harder over break so that I’ll be prepared for the season, so I believe that we will do pretty good during the season,” Feskorn said.
For the volleyball team, Head Coach Chuck Rey believes the most difficult opponent the team will face is COVID-19.
“We are extremely grateful to Winthrop University, as a whole, for its continued support of our program to play this spring and recognizing how valuable athletics is to the university,” Rey said.
Unlike Winthrop’s soccer teams, the volleyball team will endure back-to-back games throughout the spring 2021 season, beginning with home games on Thursday and Friday, Feb. 11 and 12, against USC Upstate.
“We are highly in favor of the new schedule structure because it is about safety first. We know this is the best for our student-athletes and playing one team twice over a weekend makes sense, again, to limit cross-contamination between schools,” Rey said.
Although competing in back-to-back matches is not a new situation for the Eagles, Rey said the real challenge will be facing the same opponent in back-to-back matches, as well as entering conference without any preseason games.
“We are fortunate to have two incredibly intelligent and talented setters in Junior Captain Jana Owens and freshman Isabel Schaefbauer who, no doubt, will navigate the team through these unchartered waters,” Rey said.
Campbell, Gardner-Webb and Presbyterian will all be home matches for the volleyball team, and the Eagles will hit the road for Charleston Southern, High Point, Radford and UNC Asheville.
“Scouting will be extremely difficult as we will not likely play against the same starting line-up from the previous week (or even the previous night). We have one of the best assistant coaches in the country, Becca Acevedo, [who] is not only fantastic with gameplan preparation but amazing at handling opponents on the fly,” Rey said.
In contrast with previous years, the Big South volleyball head coaches voted against a Conference Championship “to be sure we played each conference team once within the allotted [nine] weeks to compete,” Coach Rey said.
Instead, the Big South regular season champion will earn the NCAA Automatic Qualifier Bid to play in the NCAA Tournament, where only 48 teams will advance, opposed to the usual 64.
“The new strategy for spring is the oldest strategy and that is to have a great team. Chemistry and flexibility throughout each position and class are critical as the student-athletes will need to feel even more comfortable around each other,” Rey said.
For more updates on these teams’ upcoming seasons, follow @winthropsoccer, @winthropwsoccer or @winthropvolleyball on social media.
