Box Score

Hartsville, S.C.----The 14th-ranked Wingate University Bulldogs held the Coker College Cobras to a hitting percentage of -.149 Tuesday night en route to a 3-0 victory in South Atlantic Conference volleyball action. The Bulldogs won by scores of 25-5, 25-15 and 25-21 to improve to 11-2 overall and 7-0 in the SAC. The Cobras fall to 3-12 overall and 0-7 in the conference.

Freshman middle blocker Abby Saehler (Iowa City, Iowa) had 11 kills to lead the Wingate attack, adding six digs and two blocks. Senior middle blocker Allison Rickher (Matthews, N.C.) had five kills and four blocks in two sets of action, while junior Jenna Flanigin (Aldie, Va.), sophomore Shelly Stumpff (Iowa City, Iowa) and freshmen Tyler Smith (Aiken, S.C.) and Rachael Cecka (Plymouth, Wisc.) contributed three kills each. Redshirt junior Alison Cooke (Davidson, N.C.) had 17 assists and five digs, while freshman Cherokee Washington (Los Angeles, Calif.) collected eight digs.

"Even though we won relatively easily, we were able to make some progress that helped us develop as a team," head coach Shelton Collier says. "Set one we played really well, which was great for us. In the third set we had all of our younger players in and they had to fight back from a significant deficit, which was beneficial for each of them as players to learn how to execute under pressure. This win will help us as we prepare for a very important home match on Thursday."

Taylor Willis had seven kills to lead the Coker attack. Brittany Pink and Hannah Vadakin added four kills each, while Amanda Harris had three kills and 11 digs. Samantha Celek handed out 12 assists for the Cobras.

The Bulldogs jumped out to a 13-2 lead in the first set and never looked back. Rickher had three kills and three blocks in the early spurt, while Cecka added two aces. A kill and a block from Saehler, along with a Rickher kill and Coker error made it 18-4. The 'Dogs would score the last seven points of the set to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Cecka contributed a kill and a block to the flurry, while two Coker errors capped it. Wingate hit .389 in the opening frame while Coker hit -.259.

Two Saehler kills, along with a Rickher kill gave the 'Dogs a 5-0 lead in set two. Kills from Saehler and Flanigin pushed the lead to eight at 11-3. Kills from Vadakin and Willis helped the Cobras cut the lead to four at 19-15. Wingate responded by scoring the last six points of the frame. All six points came via Coker errors.

A kill from Pink, along with two Wingate errors gave the Cobras a 9-6 lead in the third set. Smith responded with a kill to make it 9-7, but an 8-3 Coker run made it 17-10. Harris and Vadakin each registered kills in the spurt. Wingate responded with a 9-1 run to regain the lead. Smith had two blocks in the flurry, while a kill from sophomore setter Iris Brewer (Cincinnati, Ohio) gave the 'Dogs a 19-18 lead. A pair of kills from Smith, along with a kill from senior Rianne Lang (Littleton, Colo.) helped Wingate take a 24-20 advantage. Saehler capped the match with a kill.

Wingate hit .225 on the night, with 31 kills and 13 errors in 80 attacks. Coker had 19 kills and 33 errors in 94 swings for the -.149 hitting percentage. Cecka had two of Wingate's four aces, while also notching a match-high five blocks. Rickher and Smith added four blocks apiece.

Wingate returns to action Thursday, hosting Lenoir-Rhyne at 7 p.m. Coker hosts Lenoir-Rhyne Friday at 7 p.m.