Post Match Interviews
Hickory, N.C.----Four different Bulldogs had at least eight kills, as the 14th ranked Wingate University Bulldogs hit .319 for the match, sweeping the Bears of Lenoir-Rhyne University in South Atlantic Conference volleyball action Tuesday evening. The ‘Dogs won by scores of 25-18, 25-18 and 25-18 to improve to 25-0 overall and 16-0 in the SAC. Wingate wins its 80th straight SAC match and also notches its 48th consecutive regular season victory. The Bears fall to 17-12 overall and 8-8 in the SAC.
Redshirt sophomore middle blocker
Anna Hilton (Hickory, N.C.) had 12 kills and 16 digs to lead the Wingate attack, hitting .522 on the night without committing an error. Freshman middle blocker
Lexi Potter (North Liberty, Iowa) had nine kills and three blocks, hitting .500 on the night. Freshman outside hitter
Susie Murach (Burke, Va.) added nine kills and 10 digs, while sophomore outside hitter
Cory McGowan (Pittsburgh, Pa.) had eight kills and 10 digs. Senior setter
Liz Willis (Raleigh, N.C.) had 42 assists, seven digs and three kills, while senior libero
Maggie Malone (Chicago, Ill.) collected a match-high 15 digs.
"This was a great win for a number of reasons,” Wingate head coach Shelton Collier says. “Our offense was very good from every position and we held their best hitter to a hitting percentage of .000. We won another SAC road match, which is significant. This is some good momentum as we head into our final home matches.”
Freshman middle blocker
Haley Rhyne (Statesville, N.C.) had nine kills to lead the Lenoir-Rhyne attack. Senior middle blocker
Chelsea Hill (Lexington, N.C.) added seven kills with a .316 hitting percentage. Junior setter
Meredith Lutz (Newton, N.C.) had 15 assists, while freshman libero
Emily Culler (Mount Airy, N.C.) had 11 digs.
The Bulldogs fell behind 5-1 in the opening set, but used a 7-2 run to take the lead. Junior middle blocker
Grace Krauser (Louisville, Ky.) had a pair of kills in the spurt, while Murach capped the flurry with a kill. A 5-0 Wingate run pushed the lead to six at 15-9. Willis started the flurry with a kill, while Potter added a block and a kill in the mix. A Rhyne kill trimmed the lead to four at 18-14. A Hilton kill and LRU error made the score 20-16. The Bears would get no closer than five the rest of the way. Willis made the tally 24-18 with a kill, while Potter capped the opening set with a kill.
A kill from Rhyne got the Bears to within one at 12-11 in the second set. The ‘Dogs reeled off four straight points to take a 16-11 advantage. Potter added an ace, while Hilton capped the spurt with a kill. The Bears closed the gap to one at 17-16 on a kill from freshman middle blocker
Joanna Whitmire (Brevard, N.C.). Wingate had the answer, scoring three straight points to take a 20-16 lead. Murach started things with a kill, while McGowan capped the spurt with a kill. The Bulldogs stretched the lead to six at 24-18 on a Potter kill, while claiming the second set on an LRU error.
The Bears took an 11-10 lead in the third set on a kill from Hill. Wingate scored seven of the next nine points to take a 17-12 advantage. Potter and Hilton started the spurt with a block, while each added a kill later in the flurry. A kill from sophomore middle blocker
Kayla Morrow (China Grove, N.C.) trimmed the lead to three at 17-14. Hilton responded with a kill, while a Lenoir-Rhyne error and Murach kill made it 20-14. Senior outside hitter
Janice Ehorn (Orange, Conn.) came off the bench to slam home a pair of kills to put Wingate on top 24-17. The ‘Dogs went to the senior once again, as Ehorn capped the match with her third kill in four swings.
The Bulldogs hit .319 for the match, piling up 51 kills against 13 errors in 119 attacks. LRU had 31 kills and 13 errors in 117 attacks, hitting .154 on the night. Malone had two of Wingate’s four aces on the night.
The Bulldogs are back in action Friday, returning home for senior night Friday against Anderson at 7 p.m. Wingate wraps up regular season play Saturday, hosting Newberry at 5 p.m. Lenoir-Rhyne is at Carson-Newman Friday at 7 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.)
NCAA Division II box score
http://www.wingatebulldogs.com/custompages/volleyball/2011/wuvbgm25.htm#GAME.BOX
