Jefferson City, Tenn.----The third-seeded Queens University Royals defeated second-seeded Wingate University 3-0 in the semifinals of the 2017 South Atlantic Conference volleyball tournament Friday afternoon on the campus of Carson-Newman University. The Royals won by scores of 25-21, 25-14 and 25-15 to improve to 22-7 overall, advancing to Saturday's SAC championship match. Wingate falls to 25-3 on the year.

"This was one of those matches where we felt like we were well-prepared and Queens played extremely well in every aspect of the game and really controlled the match from start to finish," head coach Shelton Collier says. "Obviously we are very disappointed, but we still have the NCAA Tournament ahead of us, so we hope to bounce back there."

Jordan Proszenyak led the Royals with 14 kills, adding nine digs while hitting .324. Alex Thompson hit .750 with nine kills, while Jessica Raines and Casey Tarvin contributed seven kills each. Sydney Kunz handed out 36 assists, while Tarvin collected a team-best 15 digs.

Senior outside hitter Katie Bludau (Seabrook, Texas) led the Wingate offense with 11 kills, adding five digs. Senior outside hitter Rachael Cecka (Plymouth, Wisc.) added seven kills, while junior middle blocker Anna Holmquist (Lincoln, Nebr.) contributed six kills. Sophomore setter Rachel Alles (Tinley Park, Ill.) had 23 assists, three kills and three digs, while junior libero Kori Adams (Ayden, N.C.) collected a match-high 17 digs.

Three early kills and an ace from Bludau gave Wingate a 7-3 lead in the first set, but Queens countered with an 8-0 run, taking a 12-7 lead on back-to-back aces from Proszenyak. Kills from Holmquist and Bludau got Wingate within one, while a kill from Phoebe Havenaar (Naperville, Ill.) put the 'Dogs on top 17-16. Kills from Proszenyak and Thompson put the Royals on top by two, but a Holmquist kill and Treslyn Ortiz (Texas City, Texas) ace tied it at 20. Three straight Wingate errors gave Queens a 23-20 advantage, while a block from Henry ended the first set.

Two early Proszenyak kills gave the Royals a 7-3 lead in set two, but kills from Holmquist and Cecka got the Bulldogs within one at 10-9. Queens scored 10 of the next 12 points, taking a 20-11 lead on a kill from Proszenyak. Thompson ended the second frame with a kill.

A Thompson kill and Lexi Dolecheck ace gave Queens an 11-3 lead in the third set, but back-to-back Alles kills got Wingate within five. Kills from Thompson and Tarvin made it 17-9, while a kill from Proszenyak put the Royals on top 21-11. Tarvin ended the match with a kill.

Queens hit .379 on the day, the highest hitting percentage Wingate has allowed all year by over 140 points. The Royals had 41 kills and five errors in 95 attacks. The Bulldogs had 34 kills and 21 attacks in 113 swings, hitting.115, the lowest hitting percentage for Wingate all season. Each team had five aces on the day, while the Royals had five blocks compared to just one from the Bulldogs.

Queens will play the winner of the Carson-Newman vs. Anderson match in Saturday's SAC title match. Wingate will await to hear its postseason future during Monday night's selection show. This marks the first time since 2004 the Bulldogs will not be playing the SAC championship match.