Box Score
Hickory, N.C.----The ninth-ranked Wingate University volleyball team never trailed in the fifth set, claiming a 3-2 South Atlantic Conference volleyball victory over Lenoir-Rhyne University Friday night in Shuford Gymnasium. The Bulldogs win their 19th straight match, improving to 22-2 overall and 18-0 in the SAC. Lenoir-Rhyne slips to 13-9 overall and 10-8 in the SAC. Both teams are ranked in the NCAA Division II Southeast Region (Wingate one, L-R six).
 
Wingate plays its third five-set match of the season and its first since Sept. 6, when the Bulldogs won back-to-back marathons over Hillsdale (Mich.) and (then) number nine Indianapolis at the Concordia-St. Paul tournament. Lenoir-Rhyne has lost four straight five-setters to SAC foes (Tusculum, Newberry, Anderson and Wingate). The Bears are 2-7 overall in five-set matches this season.
 
Wingate junior middle blocker Lexi Potter (North Liberty, Iowa) led the Bulldogs with her .452 hitting percentage. She had 18 kills and only four errors in 31 swings. Sophomore outside hitter Shelly Stumpff (Iowa City, Iowa) posted 17 kills and a .389 hitting percentage. The .389 output is her second-best night of the season; the 2012 SAC Freshman of the Year hit .500 in limited action at Coker (Oct. 1). Stumpff added 12 digs.
 
Bulldog redshirt senior middle blocker Anna Hilton (Hickory, N.C.) and junior outside hitter Susie Murach (Burke, Va.) had 13 and 11 kills, respectively. Hilton contributed 15 digs. Redshirt junior setter Alison Cooke (Davidson, N.C.) had 55 assists and 14 digs, while junior libero Stephanie Tassone (Chicago, Ill.) had a team-best 23 digs.
 
"This kind of win makes us appreciate how difficult it is to win road matches against strong teams in our conference," Wingate head coach Shelton Collier says. "This one could have gone either way…we are pleased we could find a way to turn it up and win."
 
"Shelly Stumpff had one of the best hitting matches of her career…as did Lexi Potter," Collier says. "It was rewarding for us as a team to win another hard-fought conference road match. This is another very important victory for us tonight."
 
Wingate never trailed in the pivotal fifth set. Back-to-back kills by Hilton and Stumpff gave the Bulldogs an early 4-1 edge. Murach sandwiched two kills around an L-R error to make the score 12-5 Wingate, concluding a 4-0 flurry.
 
The Bears answered with six straight points to cut the deficit to a slim 12-11. Lenoir-Rhyne benefitted from four Wingate attack errors. Bear senior middle blocker Kayla Morrow (China Grove, N.C.) contributed a kill and a service ace to the run. A kill by freshman hitter Abby Saehler (Iowa City, Iowa) stopped the bleeding. The Bulldogs sealed the deal, thanks to kills from senior middle blocker Allison Rickher (Matthews, N.C.) and Hilton. Wingate hit .308 in the final set, compared to .136 for Lenoir-Rhyne.
 
An 8-0 fourth set run by the Bears turned a 10-10 tie into an 18-10 bulge. L-R junior outside hitter Haley Rhyne (Statesville, N.C.) had three kills in the flurry, while Wingate made three attack errors and one ball-handling error. The hosts hit .400 in the fourth frame (15 kills, three errors, 30 swings).
 
In the third set, a Hilton kill gave Wingate an early 4-1 lead. A Potter kill and service ace made the score 13-9 Bulldogs. Lenoir-Rhyne junior middle blocker Brittany Toffan (Horseheads, N.Y.) and Rhyne contributed kills to a 4-0 run to tie the score 13-13. Rickher sandwiched two kills around a Toffan kill to give Wingate a 15-14 lead. Stumpff's kill concluded a 3-0 push to give the Bulldogs a 17-14 edge. The 25-19 final score was Wingate's largest lead of the third set. The third frame ended on a Cooke kill and an L-R attack error.
 
Kills by Rickher and Hilton and an L-R attack error gave Wingate an early 3-1 lead in set two. The second stanza was tied five times in the early going with the final deadlock at 9-9. The Bears took the lead for good 10-9 on a Wingate attack error.
 
A Bulldog service error plus three consecutive Wingate attack errors gave Lenoir-Rhyne a 20-14 lead. The Bulldogs battled back, cutting the deficit to 24-22 on an L-R service error. The hosts sealed the deal 25-22, thanks to a set-ending kill by Robinson.
 
In the first set, two kills by Rickher and three L-R errors gave Wingate an early 5-0 lead. Back-to-back Potter kills put the Bulldogs up 10-3. The Bears clawed back, cutting the deficit to 12-7 on a Rhyne kill. Another Potter kill gave Wingate an 18-9 advantage. A solo block by Saehler finished the set with the visitors on top 25-15.
 
The Bulldogs hit .270 for the match, piling up 72 kills against 25 errors in 174 attacks. LRU had 53 kills and 20 errors in 164 attacks, hitting .201 on the night. Malone had two of Wingate's four aces on the night.
           
Wingate is back in action Saturday, venturing up the mountain to Brevard for a 1 p.m. SAC contest. The Bulldogs return home Tuesday, hosting Coker in Cuddy Arena at 7 p.m. The Lenoir-Rhyne Bears conclude their weekend home stand with Coker Saturday at 5 p.m.