Greeneville, Tenn.----Wingate University sophomore middle blocker
Phoebe Havenaar (Naperville, Ill.) piled up a career-high 23 kills Friday night, leading the Bulldogs to a thrilling 3-2 victory at Tusculum College in South Atlantic Conference volleyball action. Wingate won by scores of 21-25, 25-16, 17-25, 25-22 and 17-15 to improve to 10-0 overall and 5-0 in the SAC. Tusculum falls to 5-5 overall and 3-3 in league play.
Havenaar hit .450 on the night, collecting her 23 kills in 40 swings while adding two blocks. Senior outside hitter
Katie Bludau (Seabrook, Texas) added a career-high 20 kills to go along with nine digs, while junior middle blocker
Anna Holmquist (Lincoln, Nebr.) had nine kills and eight blocks. Junior outside hitter
Oakley Attaway (Orlando, Fla.) contributed eight kills and eight digs, while freshman
Anne Abernathy (Knoxville, Tenn.) had seven kills. Sophomore setter
Rachel Alles (Tinley Park, Ill.) had a huge night, piling up 51 assists, 11 digs, eight blocks and three kills, while junior
Kori Adams (Ayden, N.C.) collected 26 digs.
"We have many really tough road matches in our conference this season and this definitely proved to be one of them," head coach
Shelton Collier says. "There were so many long rallies and a high level of play by both teams. At one point it looked highly unlikely that we had enough to get out of here with a win, but somehow we found a way. Phoebe played the best match of her career and we needed every one of her kills."
Cassie Born had 15 kills and 12 digs to lead the Tusculum attack.
Sabrina Schleuger and
Mariah Lewis added 11 kills each, while
Shannon Murphy had 36 assists and 16 digs.
Melissa Mazur collected 17 digs for the Pioneers.
A kill and a block from Havenaar gave Wingate an early 9-4 lead in set one, but two Bulldog errors and a Welch ace got the Pioneers within one at 12-11. A Bludau kill put the 'Dogs back on top by three, but a kill from Schleuger tied it at 15. Five consecutive attack errors gave Tusculum a 21-16 advantage, but back-to-back Abernathy kills got the Bulldogs back within three. A Schleuger ace and Murphy kill made it 24-19, while a block from Lewis and Murphy ended the first set.
Kills from Havenaar and Bludau gave Wingate a 13-10 lead in the second frame, but two Wingate errors got the Pioneers within a point at 14-13. A Havenaar kill put the Bulldogs on top by three, while a 4-0 run made it 20-14. Abernathy started the spurt with a kill, while a kill and two blocks from Holmquist gave Wingate a six-point advantage. Another kill and a block from Holmquist, along with a Bludau kill made it 24-16, while a Bludau block ended the frame and tied the match.
A kill and a block from Alles gave the Bulldogs a 10-9 lead in set three, but a kill from Born and block from Lewis gave Tusculum a 13-10 advantage. Havenaar got the 'Dogs within a point with a kill, but a Lewis kill and
Laryssa Welch block made it 18-13. Kills from Welch and Lewis made it 24-17, while a Murphy ace ended the set, giving the Pioneers a 2-1 lead.
Three early Bludau kills gave Wingate a 5-2 lead in the fourth set, but Tusculum scored the next five points, taking a 7-5 lead on a Schleuger kill. Kills from Born and Lewis gave the Pioneers a 14-11 advantage, while an ace from Schleuger made it 19-14. A Born kill made it 21-16, but a Bludau kill got the 'Dogs within three. Lewis made it 22-18 with a kill, but Wingate countered by scoring the last seven points of the set. Havenaar started it with two kills, while back-to-back Bludau kills made it 23-22. An ace from Alles made it 24-22, while Havenaar sent the match to a fifth set with a kill.
Kills from Havenaar and Bludau gave Wingate a 4-2 lead in set five, but a Schleuger kill got Tusculum within one. The Bulldogs scored the next four points, getting a pair of Attaway kills to take an 8-3 advantage. A Born kill and Lewis block got the Pioneers within two at 11-9, but a kill from Alles made it 12-9. Back-to-back Wingate errors tied it at 13, while another Bulldog error gave Tusculum a 14-13 advantage. Havenaar staved off match point with a kill, then followed with a kill to give the 'Dogs a 15-14 lead. An error made it 15-15, but Havenaar was there for another kill to put Wingate back on top. Attaway ended the match with a kill.
The Bulldogs hit .195 on the night, with a season-high 70 kills against 34 errors in 185 attacks. Tusculum had 46 kills and 27 errors in 179 attacks, hitting .106 for the match. Holmquist and Alles led all players with eight blocks each. The 70 kills are the most for the Bulldogs since a five-set win at Lenoir-Rhyne in 2013.
Wingate is back in action Saturday, traveling to Mars Hill for a 2 p.m. start.
