Wingate, N.C.----Wingate University senior outside hitter Taylor Williams piled up 17 kills Tuesday night, leading the Bulldogs to a 3-0 victory over visiting Mars Hill University in South Atlantic Conference volleyball action in Cuddy Arena. Wingate won by scores of 25-15, 25-18 and 25-20 to improve to 23-0 overall and 16-0 in the SAC. The Lions fall to 14-10 overall and 8-8 in league play.

POST GAME INTERVIEW: Taylor Williams & Molly Lambillotte

THOUGHTS FROM COACH COLLIER

"What I like about this team is that while we are winning, we are improving and making progress, which is really important at this stage of our season. Rachel Alles continues to be impressive setting really well for whatever lineup we are using each match. Tonight we needed our outside hitters to step up and we were pleased that three of them were able to lead us in kills tonight."

KEY STATS

- The Bulldogs hit .261 with 53 kills and 17 errors in 138 attacks
- Mars Hill had 25 kills and nine errors, hitting .133
- Wingate had 81 digs on the night compared to 62 from Mars Hill
- The 'Dogs had eight aces, with Mars Hill collecting three aces
- The Lions had seven blocks, five more than Wingate
- The 53 kills are a season-high for the 'Dogs in a three-set match

KEY BULLDOGS

- Williams hit .245 on the night, taking 49 swings in the match
- Molly Lambillotte had 11 kills, 16 digs and five aces
- Anne Abernathy hit .350 with 10 kills
- Sophie Schaff and Phoebe Havenaar each had four kills in eight swings
- Alles piled up 44 assists, 16 digs, two kills and a block
- Kori Adams had 28 digs, three assists and a kill

NOTES

- Wingate is the only undefeated team in NCAA Division II volleyball
- The Bulldogs have a nation's-best 29-match regular season win streak
- WU moves to 49-7 against Mars Hill all-time with a 40th straight win in the series
- Wingate is 22-1 all-time against the Lions in Cuddy Arena
- Best start since 2011, the only undefeated regular season in program history
- The 'Dogs are second in the nation in opponents' hitting percentage
- WU sweeps MHU after winning in five sets at Mars Hill 10 days ago
- Wingate hit a season-low .078 in the first meeting
- 13th sweep of the season for the Bulldogs
- 15th double-double of the year for Alles; third for Lambillotte
- Career-high kills for Williams in a three-set match
- Wingate moves to 368-32 overall since the start of the 2007 season
- WU has won 319 of its last 339 regular season matches
- The Bulldogs are 2123-11 in league play over the last 12 seasons

SET ONE

- Wingate hit .389 with 16 kills and just two errors
- The Lions hit .175 with 10 kills and three errors
- Williams had six kills in 12 swings; Alles had 14 assists and six digs
- Lambillotte had four digs and three aces
- Williams and Anna Holmquist had two kills each to give WU an 8-2 lead
- Kills from Williams and Abernathy, followed by an Adams kill made it 13-5
- Back-to-back Abernathy kills pushed the lead back to eight at 17-9
- A Sally Anne Johnson kill got MHU within four at 17-13
- Wingate scored six of the next seven to take a 23-14 advantage
- Lambillotte had two aces in the flurry; Williams and Reese Blackley each had a kill
- A Mars Hill error made it 24-15; a Williams kill ended the frame

SET TWO

- Wingate had 19 kills and nine errors to hit .192
- Mars Hill had just seven kills and two errors, hitting .116
- Abernathy hit .385 with seven kills
- Williams had six kills; Lambillotte and eight digs
- Alles piled up 16 assists and eight digs
- Adams had 10 digs
- Three blocks from Johnson gave Mars Hill a 7-5 lead
- Back-to-back Williams kills put the 'Dogs on top 10-9
- Wingate used an 8-0 run to take an 18-10 advantage
- Abernathy had four kills and a block in the spurt; Williams added three kills
- Back-to-back Lambillotte kills made it 24-16
- Williams ended the frame with a kill

SET THREE

- The 'Dogs hit .240 with 18 kills and six errors
- Mars Hill hit .108 with eight kills and four errors
- Lambillotte had six kills, four digs and two aces
- Williams collected five kills; Schaff added four kills in eight swings
- Alles had 14 assists; Adams picked up nine digs
- Kills from Schaff and Havenaar gave the Bulldogs a 10-8 advantage
- Two Schaff kills and a Lambillotte kill gave Wingate a 14-9 lead
- An Abby King kill got Mars Hill within three at 16-13
- A kill and two aces from Lambillotte sparked a 4-0 run that made it 20-13
- Two Williams kills and a Havenaar kill made it 23-18; Williams added a kill to make it 24-20
- Lambillotte ended the match with a kill

UP NEXT

- The Bulldogs wrap up a four-match week this weekend in South Carolina
- Wingate is at Anderson Friday at 6 p.m.
- The 'Dogs travel to Newberry Saturday at 12 p.m.
- Wingate returns home next Friday to host Tusculum at 7 p.m.
- WU wraps up the regular season next Saturday against LMU