Charlotte, N.C.----Wingate University senior outside hitter
Katie Bludau (Seabrook, Texas) continued her impressive start to the season, piling up 16 kills with a .375 hitting percentage to lead the Bulldogs to a 3-0 victory over the Shorter University Hawks on day two of the Queens Invitational. Wingate won by scores of 25-19, 25-19 and 30-28 to move to 3-0 on the season, while the Hawks fall to 1-3 overall.
Bludau now has 47 kills in three matches this season, needing just 32 swings for her 16 kills on Saturday, adding four digs and three blocks. Junior middle blocker
Anna Holmquist (Lincoln, Nebr.) hit .375 with eight kills and three blocks, while sophomore setter
Rachel Alles (Tinley Park, Ill.) flirted with a triple-double, compiling 28 assists, 12 digs and seven kills to go along with three blocks. Junior
Oakley Attaway (Orlando, Fla.) and freshman
Anne Abernathy (Knoxville, Tenn.) contributed six kills each for the Bulldogs, while junior libero
Kori Adams (Ayden, N.C.) collected 24 digs to go along with five assists and an ace.
"This was a very hard-fought win for us today," head coach Shelton Collier says. "We were down almost the entire third set and had to fight back and find a way to win it. It felt like a very tough conference match, so it was very rewarding for us to have our players step up and grind out the win."
Two Holmquist kills, along with a
Treslyn Ortiz (Texas City, Texas) ace gave the 'Dogs an 11-7 lead in set one. A
Madeline Munroe kill got the Hawks within one at 14-13, but a Bludau kill and two Shorter errors stretched the lead to four. Kills from
Danielle Melton and
Hannah Flack tied the set at 17, but a
Phoebe Havenaar (Naperville, Ill.) kill helped the Bulldogs regain a two-point lead. Another Melton kill got the Hawks back within one, but Wingate scored the next five points to go on top 24-18. Holmquist and Alles started the flurry with kills, while another Alles kill ended the spurt. Attaway ended the frame with a kill.
Four early Bludau kills gave the Bulldogs an 8-3 lead in set two, but a
Kelsi Jones block got Shorter within two at 13-11. A Bludau kill, along with back-to-back Abernathy kills pushed the Wingate advantage to six, while kills from Havenaar and Bludau made it 19-12. Two more Abernathy kills, along with a Holmquist block and
Rachel Truslow (Matthews, N.C.) ace made it 23-17. Alles followed with a kill, while a Bludau kill ended the frame.
A Munroe kill and
Iva Luther ace gave Shorter a 17-12 lead in set three, but three Attaway kills and an Alles kill got Wingate within a point at 18-17. A Melton block put the Hawks on top 21-17, but a Holmquist block and two Shorter errors made it 21-20. A kill from
Tiffany Estep made it 23-21, but kills from Bludau and Abernathy tied it at 23. The Hawks had set point five times, but the 'Dogs staved each off, getting kills from Attaway, Holmquist and Alles, along with a block from Holmquist and Alles. Their block tied it at 28, while Bludau and freshman
Sophie Schaff (League City, Texas) gave the 'Dogs a 29-28 advantage with a block. Schaff and Alles teamed for Wingate's third straight block to end the match.
The Bulldogs hit .242 for the match, with 51 kills and 20 errors in 128 attacks. Shorter had 31 kills and 16 errors in 123 attacks, hitting .122. Four different Wingate players had an ace, while Bludau, Alles and Holmquist led the 'Dogs with three blocks each.
The Bulldogs wrap up the weekend Saturday afternoon, facing Winston-Salem State at 4 p.m.
