Winthrop Volleyball sets attendance record during tough non-conference schedule
By Kellan Hudson
Sports Editor
Sports
Winthrop University Women’s Volleyball is back to setting records after a competitive 2025 season.
Under Coach Heather Gearhart (University of North Carolina Volleyball alumni), the Eagles have always been a powerhouse amongst the Big South. However, they lost in the semi final round of the Big South tournament to UNC Asheville, leaving the girls hungry for revenge this season.
Winthrop has been dealt a tough out-of-conference schedule this season, facing multiple power four opponents (SEC, Big 10, Big 12, and ACC conference teams), but that hasn’t been a problem. Recently, the Eagles topped ACC opponent Virginia Tech in a 3-0 sweep for their home opener. On September 3, 1,149 fans packed the Winthrop Coliseum to watch the Eagles dominate the Hokies. This broke Winthrop’s own Big South Volleyball attendance record last set in 2015. The Rock Hill community is eager to support the Eagles because they make their matches fun to watch by being competitive with every team they play against. Since then, the Eagles traveled to Ohio State University where they narrowly lost to Ohio State in the fifth set. The Eagles then rebounded and swept The University of North Carolina Wilmington on Friday September 18th. However, the losses have not deterred the Eagles’ spirits.
“I think a lot of people try to base it [success] off [our] record but we just try to get better and better each weekend that we have to play together. Obviously we want to win matches but at the end of the day all that matters is the Big South,” Winthrop junior and sports management major Paige Bennett said.
Bennett is an outside hitter from Pleasanton, California and has been a key contributor for the Eagles. She was named the Big South Player of the Week earlier in the season.
Winthrop has been focusing on getting to know their roster’s individual strengths and fine tuning their lineup before their conference matchups. Those games are what truly matter because winning the Big South tournament and making it to the NCAA tournament have been the Eagles goals for the last seven years since their last tournament appearance in 2019.
“Definitly a team goal is Big South regular and tournament champions,” Bennett said. Gearhart also noted how this year Winthrop will be hosting the Big South tournament, making a championship that much more special.
The Eagles also work at setting themselves apart beyond just their performance on the court. They pride themselves on having a fun team culture that translates to playing loose and competitive on the court. The team is very close and even traveled to Brazil this summer as a way to bond and play with some Brazilian club volleyball teams. A lot of this comes from their bench and ensuring that every role on the team is valued no matter how big or small.
“Our bench is a big part of our team. We call it the bench mob and we always pride ourselves in having the best bench in the Big South,” Bennett said. Being high energy and having fun on the sidelines translates to positive energy on the court. Being too serious will only kill the fun of the sport and lead to playing tense.
“We love to have fun and we’re super goofy,” Bennett said. “When we’re playing with that mindset of having fun and playing for each other and just playing the sport we love everyday and just thinking of it like that we’re super good.” Not every team has this kind of positive relationship with the sport and this much personality, so the Eagles use this to their advantage.
Gearhart also touched on this mentality of recognizing all roles on the team. Just because a player is not talked about in the media does not mean their role goes unnoticed within the team. Gearhart highlighted Alyah Cadavid, a senior sports management major, by stating, “Alyah shows up exactly the same everyday and is a very competitive and a very steady presence for our team.”
Looking ahead, the Eagles are eager to start their Big South matches, which begin Saturday September 26th against Gardner-Webb. All Big South matches will be competitive, but the Eagles have been neck and neck with High Point in the rankings for years so those matches are particularly important for the team. The Eagles have been proving themselves to be competitive this year and are on track towards their NCAA tournament dreams.
