Hickory, N.C.----The top-seeded and 12th-ranked Wingate University Bulldogs swept number eight seed Newberry College in the opening round of the 2014 South Atlantic Conference volleyball tournament at Lenoir-Rhyne University Friday afternoon. Wingate won by scores of 25-18, 25-16 and 25-20 to improve to 29-2 overall, advancing to Saturday's semifinal match. Newberry falls to 15-16 overall. The eight-time defending SAC Tournament champion Bulldogs have now won 25 consecutive conference tournament matches.

Second team All-SAC middle blocker Abby Saehler (Iowa City, Iowa) had 10 kills in 15 swings, hitting .600 while adding two blocks to lead the Bulldogs. First team all-conference right-side hitter Shelly Stumpff (Iowa City, Iowa) added nine kills, six digs and two blocks, while first team All-SAC middle blocker Lexi Potter (North Liberty, Iowa) hit .467 with eight kills. First team all-conference setter Alison Cooke (Davidson, N.C.) had 28 assists, nine digs and four kills, while honorable mention All-SAC libero Kori Adams (Ayden, N.C.) contributed 12 digs and three aces.

"We have experience in winning this tournament in previous years, and our players know that the first round match has always been a difficult challenge for us, so I was proud of our players for being so focused and well-prepared today," head coach Shelton Collier says. "Newberry always plays us tough and today we elevated our level of play and were able to win more convincingly than we expected. We are happy to be moving on to the semifinals."
Amanda Soper had eight kills to lead the Newberry attack, hitting .333. Logan Hayward added seven kills, while Holly Brisson contributed five kills for the Wolves. Ashley Minor handed out 14 assists, while Elayni Stokes collected 16 digs.

Wingate used a 5-0 run to take a 12-6 lead in the opening set. Freshman outside hitter Katie Bludau (Seabrook, Texas) had a pair of kills in the spurt. A kill and an ace from Potter made it 15-8. A Hayward kill cut the lead to three at 17-14, but kills from Saehler and Potter extended the lead back to five. Another Hayward kill helped cut the lead back to three at 19-16, but kills from Bludau and Cooke pushed the advantage to six at 22-16. Kills from Potter and senior outside hitter Cory McGowan (Pittsburgh, Pa.) made it 24-18, while a Saehler block ended the first set.

The Bulldogs used a 7-0 run to take a 12-5 lead in set two. Adams had three consecutive aces in the flurry. A 5-0 run pushed the lead to 11 at 17-6. Stumpff, Bludau and Cooke each had a kill in the spurt. Back-to-back Wingate errors trimmed the lead to five at 20-15, but a Saehler kill pushed the lead back to six. Kills from Stumpff and McGowan made it 24-16, while a Newberry error ended the second set. The Bulldogs had 13 kills and just one error in the second frame, hitting .462.

Kills from Potter and Murach put the 'Dogs on top 10-6 in the third set. Newberry used a 7-1 run to take a 14-12 advantage. Hayward had three kills and a block in the flurry. The Bulldogs answered with a 5-0 run to take a 19-16 lead, getting kills from Potter, Murach, Saehler and Potter. A kill from Lauren Pracher helped the Wolves trim the lead to one at 20-19. A Saehler kill made it 21-19, but an error cut the lead back to one. A Saehler kill and Newberry error made it 23-20, while a block from Stumpff and Potter made it 24-20. Stumpff finished the match with a kill.

Wingate hit .364 for the match, with 43 kills and 11 errors in 88 attacks. Newberry had 29 kills and 12 errors in 86 attacks, hitting .198. Adams had three of Wingate's four aces, while Saehler and Stumpff had two blocks each.

The Bulldogs return to action Saturday at 5 p.m. Wingate will take on the winner of Friday's Tusculum vs. Lenoir-Rhyne match Saturday evening in the SAC Tournament semifinals. The championship match is Sunday at 3 p.m. Every match of this year's tournament will take place at Lenoir-Rhyne University.