Wingate, N.C.----For the 12th straight year, the top-seeded Wingate University Bulldogs are on to the SAC Tournament championship match after defeating fourth-seeded Queens 3-1 in the semifinals Friday night in Cuddy Arena. Wingate won by scores of 25-20, 19-25, 25-20 and 25-16 to improve to 28-5 overall, advancing to Saturday's SAC title match. Queens falls to 20-9 on the year.

All-American right-side hitter Abby Saehler (Iowa City, Iowa) had 16 kills and 11 digs to lead the Wingate attack, hitting .286 while junior outside hitter Katie Bludau (Seabrook, Texas) added 11 kills, five digs and three aces, hitting .304. Sophomore middle blocker Anna Holmquist (Lincoln, Neb.) hit .318 with 10 kills and four blocks, while sophomore outside hitter Oakley Attaway (Orlando, Fla.) contributed eight kills and nine digs. Freshman middle blocker Lynnlee Mather (McDonough, Ga.) hit .312 with seven kills. Freshman Rachel Alles (Tinley Park, Ill.) piled up 47 assists, 14 digs and four kills, while classmate Treslyn Ortiz (Texas City, Texas) collected a career-high 30 digs.

"This was a really good win for us tonight," head coach Shelton Collier says. "Having four hitters hit over .300 is impressive in such an important match. Queens has some very good players and are a well-coached team, so we are really happy that we won tonight and we have an opportunity to play for the championship on our home court."

SAC Player of the Year Meredith Jones had 18 kills to lead the Queens attack, adding 10 errors to hit .167. Rebecca Cochran contributed 10 kills and eight digs, while Jessica Raines had seven kills for the Royals. Sydney Kunz had 37 assists and 15 digs, while Megan Mancini collected 21 digs.

A Bludau ace helped the Bulldogs jump out to a 4-0 lead in set one, but a Raines kill and two Jones kills tied it at 12. Three consecutive Queens errors put the 'Dogs back on top by three, while a Holmquist block made it 17-13. Back-to-back Bludau kills gave Wingate a 21-16 advantage, while two Saehler kills and an Attaway kill made it 24-20. The Bulldogs won the opening set on a Queens error.

An Ortiz ace and back-to-back Attaway kills gave Wingate a 9-4 lead in set two, while kills from Holmquist and Bludau made it 11-6. Queens trimmed the deficit to one at 13-12 on a kill from Jones, but two more Attaway kills made it 16-14. Kills from Cochran and Alex Thompson, along with a Mallory Swarts ace gave Queens an 18-16 lead. Another Cochran kill, followed by two Wingate errors made it 21-17. Saehler cut the lead to two with a kill, but kills from Jones and Kunz made it 24-19. A Wingate error ended the set, tying the match.

A Holmquist kill gave the Bulldogs an early 9-6 lead in set three, but four consecutive Wingate errors gave the Royals a 10-9 advantage. The Bulldogs scored the next four points, getting two Bludau kills to take a 13-10 lead. A Cochran kill helped Queens get within two, but a Holmquist kill and two errors from the Royals made it 18-13. A kill and a block from Holmquist gave Wingate a 20-14 advantage, but Queens stormed back with a 5-0 run, making it 20-19 on a kill from Raines. A Service error made it 21-19, while kills from Saehler and Bludau pushed the lead to four. Alles followed with a kill to make it 24-19, while a Holmquist kill ended the frame.

A block from Cochran gave Queens a 10-8 lead in set four, but kills from Attaway, Saehler and Holmquist put the Bulldogs on top by one. Wingate would use a pivotal 6-0 run to take an 18-12 lead, getting a kill and two blocks from Holmquist. An Alles kill, followed by back-to-back Bludau kills put the Bulldogs on top 21-13, while a kill and an ace from Bludau made it 24-15. Attaway ended the match with a kill.

The Bulldogs hit .245 on the night, with 57 kills and 20 errors in 151 attacks. Queens had 43 kills and 22 errors in 155 attacks, hitting .135. Holmquist led all players with four blocks, while Bludau collected three of Wingate's four aces.

The Bulldogs are back in action Saturday afternoon, facing number two seed Lincoln Memorial in the SAC championship match at 2 p.m. in Cuddy Arena on ESPN3. Wingate and LMU split the season series, with the Bulldogs winning 3-0 in Cuddy Arena and the Railsplitters prevailing 3-2 in Tennessee. Wingate is looking for a 10th tournament title in 11 years.