BOX SCORE
Wingate, N.C.----The Wingate University volleyball team had three hitters with 10-plus kills as the Bulldogs defeated Newberry College 3-0 in South Atlantic Conference volleyball action Friday evening in Cuddy Arena. The Bulldogs won by scores of 25-14, 33-31 and 25-17 to improve to 14-1 overall and 8-0 in the SAC. The Newberry Wolves fall to 10-8 overall and 3-5 in the conference. Wingate has now won 54 consecutive SAC matches dating back to the 2007 season.
Wingate All-American senior middle blocker Stormi Gale (Richmond, Texas) had a team-best 11 kills, while adding seven digs and hitting a team-high .450 on the night. Freshman outside hitter Cory McGowan (Pittsburgh, Pa.) had a double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs. Redshirt freshman outside hitter Anna Hilton (Hickory, N.C.) had 10 kills, four blocks and a .444 hitting percentage.
Wingate senior setter Amanda Clark (Timberlake, N.C.) had 24 assists and nine digs, while junior setter Liz Willis (Raleigh, N.C.) had 15 assists and seven digs. Bulldog junior libero Maggie Malone (Chicago, Ill.) posted 11 digs and a team-best three service aces.
Newberry senior outside hitter Kara Harris (Grandview, Texas) had nine kills and 11 digs for the visitors. Freshmen outside hitters Anne Staudinger (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Samantha Parrish (Angola, Ind.) posted six kills each. Parrish contributed nine digs. Newberry sophomore setter Blair Browning (New Lexington, Ohio) had 13 assists, while junior setter Lindsey Hollingsworth (Charleston, S.C.) equaled Harris with 11 digs.
In the first set, Wingate never trailed en route to the opening frame victory. The Bulldogs hit .469 with 18 kills and three errors in 32 swings. The Wolves could manage only a .107 hitting percentage in the first set. A 9-2 Wingate run turned a 10-9 edge into a 19-11 advantage. Gale had a kill and an ace in the flurry. Hilton ended the first frame with a kill.
Wingate and Newberry treated the better-than-normal Fall Break crowd with an epic second set. The frame was tied 13 times, including 12 times starting at 18-18 and moving forward. The two teams traded the lead on six occasions. The Bulldogs led 23-21 on a Gale kill. The Wolves quickly tied the second stanza on a Staudinger kill and a Wingate attack error.
The Wolves had set points three times, but could not convert. Two of Newberry’s three set points ended with a service error. Wingate had six set points. After a Harris kill tied the frame at 31-31, the Wolves made back-to-back attack errors to give the Bulldogs the second set. Wingate had 19 kills and a .304 hitting percentage in the second set.
Wingate never trailed in the third set, but Newberry did not give up. The visiting Wolves tied the third frame at 8-8 on a service ace by senior libero Nadia Andrade (Belo Horizonte, Brazil). Bulldog head coach Shelton Collier called time out; his troops responded with a 4-0 run. Willis started the flurry with a kill. Newberry would get no closer than three points the rest of the way. The Wolves hit negative .054 in the final set.
The Bulldogs hit .274 for the match, with 47 kills against 15 errors in 117 attacks. Newberry had 26 kills and 19 errors in 115 attacks for a .061 hitting percentage. Wingate had 13 blocks. Gale supported Hilton’s four blocks with three of her own. Andrade had three of Newberry’s eight service aces, but the Wolves also committed eight service errors.
POST-MATCH NOTES
The Bulldogs are 114-7 since the start of the 2007 season, good for a .942 winning percentage which leads all of Division II. The four-time defending SAC regular season and conference champions are currently riding a 54-match SAC winning streak, dating back to the beginning of the 2007 season. The Bulldogs have won 36 consecutive regular season home matches.
Wingate has won 68 of its last 69 regular season home contests, dating back to the 2006 season. Wingate has won 34 straight SAC home matches, dating back to October 2005, losing to a Presbyterian College team that is no longer a member of the SAC. The last time the ‘Dogs lost a regular season home match to a current SAC member was September 2004 to Lenoir-Rhyne University.
