HIGH POINT, N.C. – The top-seeded Winthrop Eagles defeated No. 2 UNC Asheville, 3-0 (30-12, 30-23, 30-16), to win the 2006 Big South Volleyball Championship Sunday at the Millis Center in High Point, N.C.  With the win, Winthrop becomes the first Big South school ever to win five-straight volleyball championships, and receives the Conference’s automatic bid to the 2006 NCAA Tournament.

The Eagles (33-2) won their 17th-straight match behind Taryn Surbaugh’s 14 kills.  Emily Stockman kicked in 12 kills with no errors, as Tori Grafeman notched 12 kills as well.  Emily Heckl passed out 41 assists in the match and Libero Pohai Nu’uhiwa came up with 19 digs. 

For Asheville (15-18), Emily Palma and Elif Unlu posted seven kills a piece.  Kaitlyn McDaniel had 24 helpers, while Raquel Miotto posted 13 digs in the back row.

The Eagles have now won 15 consecutive Conference Tournament matches, dating back to the 2002 season.  Winthrop, the 2006 regular-season champion as well, is the first Big South club to go undefeated in the regular season and Conference Tournament in three-straight seasons.

Winthrop will find out who it will play in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, Nov. 26 at 2:30pm on ESPN News.

Surbaugh was named the Tournament’s Most Valuable Player and earned a spot on the All-Tournament team, which is as follows:

2006 Big South Volleyball All-Tournament Team
Morgan Anderson, Birmingham-Southern
Jill Nyhof, Coastal Carolina
Raquel Miotto, UNC Asheville
Emily Palma, UNC Asheville
Pohai Nu’uhiwa, Winthrop
Shannon Sitzmann, Winthrop
Taryn Surbaugh, Winthrop (MVP

Quotes

Winthrop Coach Joel McCartney
“I am delighted to have this championship under our belts, so we can begin our the journey to go after our over reaching goal, but right now it just feels good to win the tournament.  After last night’s close match, I am especially proud of the group for today’s performance.  Emily Stockman had a fantastic performance in her first Big South Championship match.”

UNC Asheville Coach Julie Torbett
“Hats off to Winthrop.  They are a great team and they came out and executed.  I am happy that we had eight freshman in the Championship match.  It will be nice to have that kind of experience back, especially championship game experience.”