BOX SCORE

Harrogate, Tenn.----For the second year in a row, the Wingate University volleyball team played its first five-set match of the season in the first round of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference tournament. This year, the result was the same, as the number 14 Bulldogs defeated Carson-Newman College 3-2 Friday afternoon at Mary Mars Gymnasium on the campus of Lincoln Memorial University.
 
With the victory, Wingate improves to 28-0 overall. The Bulldogs have won the past five SAC tournaments. Wingate has won 16 consecutive Food Lion SAC tournament matches and 22 of its last 24. Carson-Newman concludes the 2011 season 17-14 overall.
 
“We have not had a team push us to a fifth set all year,” Wingate head coach Shelton Collier says. “I was especially pleased with how strong and composed we played in the fifth set.”
 
Sophomore outside hitter Cory McGowan (Pittsburgh, Pa.) had 18 kills with a .326 hitting percentage to lead the Wingate attack. Junior middle blocker Grace Krauser (Louisville, Ky.) had 13 kills, while redshirt sophomore middle blocker Anna Hilton (Hickory, N.C.) contributed 12 kills and 18 digs. Senior setter Liz Willis (Raleigh, N.C.) handed out 51 assists and collected 19 digs, while senior libero Maggie Malone (Chicago, Ill.) topped the team charts with 25 digs.
 
Senior middle hitter Nikki James led Carson-Newman with 10 kills and a match-high five blocks (two solo, three assists). Freshman outside hitter Rachel Harper (Chattanooga, Tenn.) had nine kills and 13 digs. Eagle freshman setter Kristen Pickett (Cleveland, Tenn.) had 38 assists and nine digs, while junior defensive specialist Angelle Hayes (Brentwood, Tenn.) recorded a match-high 34 digs.
 
Wingate did not trail in the pivotal fifth set. A Carson-Newman error gave Wingate a 9-5 lead. The Eagles scored three unanswered points to cut the deficit to 9-8 on a Pickett service ace. The Bulldogs scored six of the last eight points, with McGowan, Hilton and senior outside hitter Janice Ehorn (Orange, Conn.) notching kills in the run. A Carson-Newman error ended the one hour and 56 minute match.
 
In the fourth set, Wingate hit .043 with 13 kills, 11 errors and 46 total attacks. Carson-Newman did not fare much better, posting a .068 hitting percentage in the fourth frame (10, 7, 44). The Eagles sprinted to a 9-3 lead, ending the flurry with a James kill. Freshman outside hitter Lauren Santarelli (Colorado Springs, Colo.) had two kills as the Eagles built their biggest lead of the set at 13-5.
 
Wingate battled back with a 10-2 run to tie the fourth set at 15-15. McGowan had three kills in the flurry, which ended on a C-N attack error. The teams traded blows, with Carson-Newman taking a 20-17 lead on a Harper kill. A kill by Wingate freshman middle blocker Lexi Potter (North Liberty, Iowa) knotted the score at 21-21. The fourth set was tied one more time at 24-24 before a Wingate ball-handling error and a James kill ended the frame.
 
The two teams had 13 kills each in the tightly-contested third set. The final margin was the largest lead for either team in the third. Potter and McGowan recorded back-to-back kills to put Wingate up 16-14. Carson-Newman converted a Harper kill and two Bulldog attack errors into a 17-16 edge. Another Potter kill and a C-N mistake gave Wingate an 18-17 lead.
 
Wingate led one more time at 20-19 on a Carson-Newman attack error. A Pickett kill gave the Eagles the lead for good at 21-20. She would add another kill in the waning moments. The set ended on a Wingate attack error.
 
The Bulldogs trailed only once (3-2) in the second stanza. Wingate hit .283 in the second set (18, 5, 46), while Carson-Newman could muster only a .075 mark (8, 5, 40). Kills from Krauser and McGowan ended the set. Krauser had seven kills in the second stanza, while Hilton posted five.
 
Wingate did not make an error in the first set, as the Bulldogs hit .471 with 16 kills and 34 swings. The regular season champions did not trail in the opening frame as they doubled up the Eagles 20-10 on a service ace by freshman outside hitter Susie Murach (Burke, Va.). A kill by freshman middle blocker Kelsey Handel (Knoxville, Tenn.) ended the first set.
 
Wingate had 68 kills and 24 errors in 189 attacks on the afternoon, hitting .233. Carson-Newman had 48 kills and 28 errors in 177 attacks, hitting .113. Murach had three of Wingate’s six service aces, while James pulled the exact same feat for Carson-Newman. The Bulldogs face Tusculum Saturday in a 1:30 p.m. semi-final contest.
 
“We could easily be on our way home right now,” Collier says. “We survived…and we are excited about playing in the semi-finals Saturday.”