Box Score
 
Salisbury, N.C.----The Wingate University Bulldogs swept the Catawba College Indians 3-0 in South Atlantic Conference volleyball action Tuesday night. Wingate won by scores of 25-18, 25-11 and 25-20 to improve to 14-2 overall and 5-2 in the SAC. Catawba falls to 6-9 overall and 3-4 in the conference.
 
Redshirt junior right-side hitter Anna Hilton (Hickory, N.C.) had 13 kills, seven digs, six assists and three blocks to lead the Wingate attack, hitting .375 on the night. Freshman outside hitter Shelly Stumpff (Iowa City, Iowa) added 10 kills and 10 digs, while sophomore outside hitter Susie Murach (Burke, Va.) had seven kills and seven digs. Freshman setter Iris Brewer (Cincinnati, Ohio) handed out 23 assists in two sets of action, while redshirt sophomore Alison Cooke (Davidson, N.C.) had nine assists, 11 digs and four kills in one set. Junior libero Rianne Lang (Littleton, Colo.) collected 18 digs for the Bulldogs.
 
“This was perhaps our most impressive overall performance so far this season,” head coach Shelton Collier says. “Catawba has always played us very tough in their gym, so winning in such convincing fashion is a credit to our players’ high level of play and doing an exceptional job following the scouting report. We are very proud of our effort tonight.”
 
Senior outside hitter Kaitlyn Whitmer (Ferrum, Va.) had nine kills and nine digs to lead the Catawba attack. Senior right-side hitter Alli Parrish (Zebulon, N.C.) had six kills and seven digs, while freshman middle blocker Abby Pennington (Blacksburg, Va.) added five kills with a .556 hitting percentage. Senior setter Jordan Raye (Boonville, N.C.) had 21 assists and five digs, while senior libero Jenny Young (Roanoke, Va.) piled up a match-high 22 digs.
 
A kill from Raye gave Catawba a 12-10 lead in the opening set. Wingate answered with a 3-0 run, highlighted by a kill from freshman middle blocker Lexi Potter (Louisville, Ky.), to take a 13-12 lead. Another 3-0 Wingate run, capped by kills from Hilton and Potter, made it 16-13. A kill from junior middle blocker Emily Richardson (Salem, Va.) got Catawba to within one at 18-17. The Bulldogs answered with a pivotal 5-0 run to take a 23-17 advantage. A kill and two aces from Stumpff started the flurry, while Hilton and senior middle blocker Grace Krauser (Louisville, Ky.) teamed for a block to cap it. Another Hilton kill made it 24-18, while Hilton and Potter teamed for a block to finish the first set.
 
Kills from Murach and Brewer gave Wingate an 11-7 lead in the second set. Back-to-back Krauser kills pushed the lead to five at 13-8. Pennington answered with a kill to make it 13-9, but the Bulldogs had the emphatic answer, going on an 11-0 run to take a 24-9 advantage. Stumpff got it started with a kill and an ace, while Hilton added three kills in the spurt. Krauser capped the second set with a kill. Wingate had 16 kills and just three errors in the second frame, while holding Catawba to seven kills.
 
Wingate used a 6-0 run to take a 12-7 lead in the third set. Cooke had a block and a kill to start it, while Potter added two aces. Another Cooke kill capped the flurry to push the advantage to five. Wingate added a 4-0 run to take a 16-8 lead, capped by kills from Krauser and Cooke. Two Stumpff kills, along with a Potter kill pushed the advantage to 20-11. Catawba trimmed the lead to three at 23-20 on a block from Richardson. Stumpff answered with a kill to make it 24-20, then finished the match with a block.
 
The Bulldogs hit .274 on the night, with 44 kills and 12 errors in 117 attacks. Catawba had 29 kills and 13 errors in 116 attacks, hitting .138 on the match. Stumpff had four of Wingate’s six aces on the night.
 
Wingate returns to action Friday, hosting Lincoln Memorial at 7 p.m. Catawba hosts Carson-Newman Friday at 7 p.m.