BOX SCORE

Hickory, N.C.----The Wingate University Bulldogs hit .352 for the match en route to a 3-1 win over the Bears of Lenoir-Rhyne University in South Atlantic Conference volleyball action Friday night. Wingate won by scores of 25-8, 25-22, 23-25 and 25-14 to improve to 10-1 overall and 6-0 in the SAC. Wingate has now won 52 consecutive SAC matches, dating back to the beginning of the 2007 season. LRU falls to 5-6 overall and 2-4 in the conference. The Bulldogs are the only team in the SAC without a league loss in 2010.

Senior outside hitter Lauren Billo (Orland Park, Ill.) led the charge with an incredible night, piling up 14 kills on 17 swings. The 2009 honorable mention All-American did not have an error in her three sets of action, hitting .824 on the night. Freshman outside hitter Cory McGowan (Pittsburgh, Pa.) added 12 kills and a .474 hitting percentage for the Bulldogs. Senior middle blocker Stormi Gale (Richmond, Texas) had seven kills, seven digs and six blocks, while junior outside hitter Janice Ehorn (Orange, Conn.) chipped in with seven kills. Junior setter Liz Willis (Raleigh, N.C.) handed out 25 assists, while junior libero Maggie Malone (Chicago, Ill.) collected 13 digs.

“With us hitting .524 in set one and .536 in set two, it shows that we are capable of playing at a very high level,” head coach Shelton Collier says. “Our other two sets showed that we still have much work to do if we are going to be the team we want to be at the end of season. I was really pleased with the play of our outside hitters Lauren (Billo), Cory (McGowan) and Janice (Ehorn), who all played very well for us tonight.
Junior outside hitter Lindsey Cantu (Orlando, Fla.) led the Lenoir-Rhyne attack with nine kills to go along with 11 digs. Junior outside hitter Brooke Christenbury (Statesville, N.C.) added seven kills and nine digs for the Bears. Sophomore setter Cayla Crawley (Bryson City, N.C.) handed out 20 assists, while junior libero Marrissa Church (Statesville, N.C.) notched 13 digs.

The Bulldogs used a 13-0 run to take a 19-5 lead in the first set. The spurt started with a kill from senior middle blocker Rebecca Bloemer (Louisville, Ky.) and back-to-back aces from sophomore middle blocker Grace Krauser (Louisville, Ky.). Three consecutive Ehorn kills made it 14-5, while a Willis kill gave Wingate a 14-point lead. Billo finished the first set with back-to-back kills. The Bulldogs hit .524 in the first set, with Billo and Ehorn combining for eight kills on nine swings.

Wingate used a 4-0 run to take a 15-12 lead in the second set. McGowan and redshirt freshman outside hitter Anna Hilton (Hickory, N.C.) got it started with kills, while the spurt ended with two LRU errors. The Bears scored the next three points to tie at 15 on an ace from Christenbury. A block and a kill from freshman middle blocker Kayla Morrow (China Grove, N.C.), along with a Wingate error put the Bears on top 20-17. The ‘Dogs answered with a 4-0 run to take a 21-20 lead. Ehorn capped the spurt with a block and two kills. LRU retook the lead on consecutive Wingate errors to make it 22-21. The Bulldogs responded by scoring the final four points of the set. Gale and Hilton tied it at 22 with a block, while a McGowan kill and Ehorn ace made it 24-22. Gale and McGowan finished the set with a block.

A kill and a block from Morrow gave LRU a 12-8 lead in the third set. A pair of Bloemer kills cut the lead to one at 14-13. The Bears regained a four-point advantage when a Crawley ace made it 21-17. The Bulldogs answered with a 6-2 run to tie it at 23. McGowan got it started with a kill, while Billo added three kills in the flurry. Christenbury gave Lenoir-Rhyne a 24-23 lead, the Bears took the set on a Wingate error.

Three McGowan kills helped the Bulldogs build a 12-7 lead in the fourth frame. After LRU cut the lead to four, Wingate used a 4-0 run to take a 16-8 advantage. Gale and Hilton started it with kills, while Billo finished it with a kill. Back-to-back Billo kills put Wingate on top 19-9. The Bears would get no closer than nine the rest of the way, with Billo capping the match with her 14th kill. Wingate hit .536 in the final frame, with 17 kills against only two errors. Billo had six kills on seven swings, while McGowan had four kills in five attacks.

The Bulldogs racked up 58 kills against 15 errors for the .352 hitting percentage on the night. LRU hit .126 with 40 kills and 26 errors in 127 attacks. The Bulldogs had six blocks on the night, led by Gale. Krauser had two of Wingate’s seven aces on the night. 

The Bulldogs are back in action Sunday, taking on Pfeiffer University at 7 p.m. The NCAA Division II Southeast Region match will be held at Carolina Courts in Indian Trail, N.C. The Wingate University Sports Network will provide Bulldog fans with a live PPV video stream Sunday. Lenoir-Rhyne hosts Catawba College Saturday at 2 p.m.

(Wingate University assistant sports information director Hugh Patton wrote this article. Patton is a 2006 Wingate graduate with a B.A. degree in Communication Studies.)