Box Score  

Wingate, N.C.----Redshirt senior right-side hitter Anna Hilton (Hickory, N.C.) piled up a career-high 19 kills Saturday afternoon, while junior outside hitter Susie Murach (Burke, Va.) added 14 kills to lead the 16th-ranked Bulldogs of Wingate University to a 3-1 victory over Anderson University in South Atlantic Conference volleyball action at Cuddy Arena. Wingate improves to 5-2 overall and 2-0 in the SAC while the Trojans fall to 1-5 overall and 1-1 in the conference.

Hilton hit .643 on the match, needing only 28 swings for her 19 kills while committing just one error. She also had 11 digs and five assists. Murach hit .323 on the afternoon, adding three digs, an ace and a block. Junior middle blocker Lexi Potter (North Liberty, Iowa) and freshman middle blocker Abby Saehler (Iowa City, Iowa) added nine kills each, while junior middle blocker Allison Rickher (Matthews, N.C.) had seven kills and five blocks, hitting .429. Redshirt junior setter Alison Cooke (Davidson, N.C.) had 54 assists, 12 digs and three blocks, while junior libero Stephanie Tassone (Chicago, Ill.) registered 21 digs.

Hailey Pittman had 16 kills to lead the Anderson attack, hitting .364 while adding three digs and three blocks. Shannon Gillespie had nine kills and eight digs for the Trojans. Meghan Cautero compiled 32 assists and seven digs, while Alix Hooker had 15 digs.

A kill from Pittman, followed by an ace from Priscilla Irizarry gave the Trojans an 11-9 lead in the first set. Wingate scored the next four points, taking a 13-11 lead on a Hilton kill. A 5-0 Wingate run pushed the lead to seven at 21-14. Potter started it with a kill, while Murach added three kills in the flurry. A Hilton kill made it 24-18, while another Hilton kill finished the opening frame.

Anderson used a 4-0 run to take a 14-10 lead in the second set. Pittman had a kill and a block in the spurt. Wingate cut the lead to two when a Hilton kill made it 16-14, but a Gillespie kill and Wingate error pushed the lead back to four at 18-14. Kills from Hilton and Rickher helped Wingate cut the lead to one at 20-19, but a kill from Tinsely Hallman, followed by a Pittman kill made it 22-19. The Bulldogs answered with a 5-0 run to take a 24-22 advantage. Saehler had a kill and a block in the spurt. A kill from Allison Gaminde made it 24-23, while a Wingate error tied it. A block from Pittman gave the Trojans a 25-24 lead, while another Bulldog error gave Anderson the second set, tying the match at one.

Wingate used a 5-0 run to take an 11-6 lead in the third set. Potter started the flurry with a kill, while Murach followed with three straight kills. Another Murach kill pushed the advantage to seven at 16-9. Kills from Irizarry and Jessica Harris got the Trojans back within four at 22-18. Kills from Murach and Hilton made it 24-19, while another Hilton kill finished the third set. Wingate hit .447 in the third frame, with 20 kills and just three errors.

The Bulldogs used a 10-0 run to take a commanding 15-7 lead in set four. Rickher had a kill and two blocks in the spurt. Back-to-back Hilton kills made it 20-10. Rickher made it 24-17 with a kill, while an ace from Cooke capped the fourth set.

Wingate hit .259 for the match, with 68 kills and 27 errors in 158 attacks. Anderson had 35 kills and 20 errors in 135 attacks, hitting .111 for the match. Rickher had a match-high five blocks for the Bulldogs, while Tassone and Stumpff had two aces each.

Wingate is back in action Tuesday, traveling to Queens for a 7 p.m. start.