Salisbury, N.C.----The Wingate University Bulldogs remained perfect on the season, wrapping up a four-match SAC road trip with a 3-0 victory at Catawba College Saturday afternoon in South Atlantic Conference volleyball action. Wingate improves to 13-0 overall and 8-0 in the SAC, while the Indians fall to 3-9 overall and 1-7 in league play.
Senior outside hitter
Katie Bludau (Seabrook, Texas) had 11 kills in just two sets of action to lead the Wingate attack, hitting .273. Redshirt senior
Rachael Cecka (Plymouth, Wisc.) hit .667 with eight kills in two sets, while junior outside hitter
Oakley Attaway (Orlando, Fla.) had seven kills in two sets of action. Juniors
Anna Holmquist (Lincoln, Nebr.) and
Hannah Givens (Greensburg, Ky.) contributed four kills apiece, while sophomore
Rachel Alles (Tinley Park, Ill.) compiled 22 assists and seven digs in two sets. Senior
Rachel Lods (Lancaster, Calif.) had 18 assists and six digs, while junior Kori Adams (Ayden, N.C.) collected 13 digs.
"This was a good win for us for a number of reasons," head coach
Shelton Collier says. "Our team played with some great energy on the road and we were able to play several lineups that were successful. We made some great progress today that we can continue to build on as our season progresses.
A kill and a block from Attaway gave the Bulldogs a 9-6 lead in set one, while two more Attaway kills made it 16-9. Kills from Bludau and
Anne Abernathy (Knoxville, Tenn.) pushed the lead to eight, while two more Abernathy kills made it 24-16. Attaway ended the set with a kill.
Five early Bludau kills gave Wingate a 7-3 lead in the second set, while two Cecka kills made it 13-7. An ace from Alexa Marcy got the Indians within one at 14-13, while a
Kimberly Hurtado kill tied it at 16. A kill and a block from Cecka, followed by a kill from
Taylor Williams (Keedysville, Md.) made it 20-17. A Cecka kill and Alles block made it 23-18, while a Williams block made it 24-19. Freshman
Sophie Schaff (League City, Texas) ended the second frame.
The Bulldogs raced out to a 10-2 lead in the third set, with Cecka and
Phoebe Havenaar (Naperville, Ill.) contributing two kills each in the early spurt. Back-to-back Cecka kills made it 13-3, while kills from Givens and Holmquist pushed the advantage to 12 at 18-6. Kills from Givens and sophomore
Hanna Knaley (Florence, Ky.) made it 24-11, while another Givens kill ended the match.
Wingate hit .299 on the day, with 46 kills and 11 errors in 117 attacks. Catawba had 24 kills and 19 errors in 105 attacks, hitting .048 on the match. Schaff led all players with four blocks.
The Bulldogs are back in action Friday night, hosting Carson-Newman at 7 p.m. on ESPN3.
