NCAA TOURNAMENT BRACKET

Indianapolis, Ind.----The number 14 Wingate University Bulldogs, winners of the South Atlantic Conference regular season and tournament titles, will host the NCAA Southeast Region volleyball tournament for the fourth consecutive year. Wingate will be the number one seed in the eight-team regional, which was announced Sunday night. The Bulldogs are 30-0 overall and are looking to defend their 2010 regional title.
 
Number 24 Flagler is the two seed, while number 19 Armstrong Atlantic State is the three seed. The Pirates and Saints split their regular season Peach Belt Conference contests, while Flagler claimed its third straight PBC tournament title Sunday afternoon. AASU won the regional in 2008, while Flagler claimed the 2009 title. Catawba is the four seed; the Indians will take on fifth-seeded Lincoln Memorial. Tusculum is the six seed, followed by Newberry and Lees-McRae. The eight-seeded Bobcats won the Conference Carolinas regular season and tournament title in 2011.
 
The regionals will begin Friday at 12 noon, with quarterfinal matches following at 2:30 p.m., 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday’s semifinals will be held at 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Sunday’s championship contest will take place at 4 p.m. All matches will be held at Cuddy Arena on the campus of Wingate University. The complete schedule will be released Monday.
 
For the fifth straight season, Wingate enters the NCAA tournament with one or no losses, while riding a winning streak of at least 20 matches. The Bulldogs captured their sixth consecutive Food Lion SAC tournament title Sunday afternoon, winning 3-1 over Catawba. Wingate won its sixth straight regular season title this season, while going undefeated for the fifth straight year. The ‘Dogs are riding a league-record 82-match SAC winning streak. Wingate is 161-8 overall since the start of the 2007 season, good for a nation’s best .953 winning percentage over this span. One of only two remaining undefeated teams in the nation, Wingate will look to finish the season in the top three in winning percentage for the fifth straight year.
 
Wingate’s SAC tournament run was nearly identical to the 2010 tournament. The Bulldogs were pushed to a fifth set in Friday’s quarter-finals against Carson-Newman. Wingate has played only two five-set matches in the past two years, both coming in the SAC quarter-finals. Sophomore outside hitter Cory McGowan (Pittsburgh, Pa.) had a match-high 18 kills to help Wingate survive the upset bid. The ‘Dogs dominated in the semi-finals against Tusculum, winning 3-0 thanks to a match-high 10 kills from redshirt sophomore right-side hitter Anna Hilton (Hickory, N.C.), along with nine kills and seven blocks from freshman middle blocker Lexi Potter (North Liberty, Iowa). Junior middle blocker Grace Krauser (Louisville, Ky.) tied a career-high with 16 kills in the title match, while Hilton added 13 kills and 12 digs. Tournament MVP Liz Willis (Raleigh, N.C.) piled up 52 assists and 12 digs.
 
The 2011 season marks the seventh consecutive year the Bulldogs have made the NCAA Division II volleyball tournament. Wingate collected its first-ever NCAA win in 2008, sweeping Anderson (S.C.) in Cuddy Arena. The Bulldogs knocked off Tusculum and Carson-Newman in 2009, before falling to eventual NCAA Final Four participant Flagler in the regional finals. In 2010, the ‘Dogs took down Lees-McRae and Montevallo to set up a rematch with Flagler in the title match. Wingate won 3-0, becoming the first-ever SAC school to reach the NCAA Elite Eight.
 
The balanced Wingate attack features four players with at least 2.5 kills per set, while eight Bulldogs are averaging over a kill per set. The ‘Dogs also have four different players averaging at least 2.8 digs per set. Wingate ranks eighth nationally in kills per set.
 
A first team All-SAC selection, Hilton leads the way with 3.22 kills per set, ranking second in the league with a .312 hitting percentage, while also averaging 3.05 digs per set. Also a first team all-conference honoree, McGowan is tied with Hilton for fourth in the SAC with 3.22 kills per set, to go along with 1.74 digs per set. A second-team selection, Krauser ranks in the top 10 in the league with 2.91 kills per set and a .291 hitting percentage.
 
Wingate had a pair of newcomers named to the All-SAC Freshman team. Middle blocker Lexi Potter (North Liberty, Iowa) was named the league’s Freshman of the Year. She is averaging 1.83 kills per set, while hitting a league-best .315 on the year. Potter is third in the league with 1.10 blocks per set. Murach is averaging 2.53 kills and 2.87 digs per set, leading the league with 0.43 aces per set.
 
Willis is having a career year; she is the only player in SAC history to be named the SAC Player of the Year, SAC Scholar-Athlete and SAC Tournament MVP in the same season. She ranks fourth nationally with a career-best 11.79 assists per set to go along with 2.8 digs per set. Senior libero Maggie Malone (Chicago, Ill.) is the school’s all-time leader in career digs and career digs per set. She is averaging a career-best and school-record 5.43 digs per set.
 
For more information on the 2011 NCAA Division II Southeast Region tournament, Wingate University will provide a Tournament Central page on www.wingatebulldogs.com. The site will provide a schedule and links for multimedia available during the week, along with much more information. The Tournament Central page will be available Monday afternoon.

WINGATE SPORTS WEEKLY

The Wingate University Bulldog Club sponsors Wingate Sports Weekly each Wednesday at Hill Top Bistro in Monroe (602 E. Roosevelt Blvd.). The Dutch treat lunch begins at 12 noon. The gatherings give Bulldog fans an opportunity to interact with Wingate coaches and student-athletes. Wingate Sports Weekly replaces Wake Up with Wingate for the 2011-12 academic year.

WINGATE UNIVERSITY

Founded in 1896, Wingate University is a comprehensive university with more than 2,500 students on three campuses in Wingate, Matthews and Hendersonville, N.C. The university offers 34 undergraduate majors, 37 minors and career concentrations, numerous pre-professional programs, graduate degrees in business, accounting, physician assistant studies and sports administration and doctorates in pharmacy and education.

Wingate students gain the tools and support they need to excel in academics and apply that learning toward an extraordinary career and life. The campus community offers in-class learning, out-of-class experiences, strong mentors, a competitive yet caring environment and rewarding community service opportunities for a complete educational experience.

Bulldog student-athletes compete in 19 NCAA Division II sports. Wingate University has won the South Atlantic Conference Echols Athletic Excellence Award for the past five years.

Wingate University is ranked number three among NCAA Division II Academic All-America® producing schools in the 2000’s with 39 honorees during this millennium. Only Pittsburg State (Kan.) University and Truman State (Mo.) University have produced more Academic All-America® honorees during this time period. Wingate’s 48 Academic All-America® honorees (lifetime) is tops among all SAC schools.

(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.)

2011 NCAA DIVISION II SOUTHEAST REGIONALS
MATCH SCHEDULE

Friday, November 18, 2011
DAILY TICKETS: $10/adults, $6/students, $4/children under 12

Session #1
12 noon
NCAA Division II Southeast Regional match #1
#3 Armstrong (Ga.) (35-2) vs. #6 Tusculum (18-12)

2:30 p.m.
NCAA Division II Southeast Regional match #2
#2 Flagler (28-6) vs. #7 Newberry (16-15)

5 p.m.
NCAA Division II Southeast Regional match #3
#4 Catawba (23-7) vs. #5 Lincoln Memorial (22-6)

7:30 p.m.
NCAA Division II Southeast Regional match #4
#1 Wingate (30-0) vs. #8 Lees-McRae (27-8)

Saturday, November 19, 2011 

Session #2
4 p.m.
NCAA Division II Southeast Regional match #5
Winner of Match 1 vs. Winner of Match 2

6:30 p.m.
NCAA Division II Southeast Regional match #6
Winner of Match 3 vs. Winner of Match 4

Sunday, November 20, 2011 

Session #3
4 p.m.
NCAA Division II Southeast Regional match #7 (championship match)