Wingate, N.C.----The top-seeded and 24th-ranked Wingate University Bulldogs prevailed 3-1 over fourth-seeded Anderson University in the semifinals of the 2018 NCAA Southeast regionals Friday night in front of a raucous crowd inside Cuddy Arena. Wingate won by scores of 25-17, 25-17, 10-25 and 25-19 to improve to 31-1 overall, advancing to the regional title match for the eighth time in 10 seasons. Anderson ends its season at 28-6.

THOUGHTS FROM COACH COLLIER

"This was really a special night for our team. Once again we had an amazing crowd and an exciting match atmosphere. After getting out to a 2-0 lead, Anderson deserves credit for fighting back. At one point it looked as if we would be playing a fifth set, but our players were very impressive finding a way to push it over the top and close it out in the fourth set. We are thrilled to be playing for the regional championship tomorrow."

KEY STATS

- Wingate hit .235 with 52 kills and 17 errors
- Anderson had 45 kills and 19 errors, hitting .176
- The Bulldogs had 74 digs compared to Anderson's 68
- The Trojans had five blocks; Wingate had four rejections
- AU had eight aces, with the 'Dogs collecting seven aces
- The Bulldogs hit over .300 in two of the four sets; AU hit over .300 in set three
- Anderson hit negative in set one, while the 'Dogs hit .000 in set three

KEY BULLDOGS

- All-Region outside hitter Hannah Givens hit .275 with 14 kills
- All-Region middle blocker Phoebe Havenaar added 11 kills
- Sophie Schaff contributed eight kills while hitting .350
- Anna Holmquist registered eight kills and four blocks
- Taylor Williams notched six kills while hitting .385
- Region Player of the Year Rachel Alles had 41 assists, eight digs, five kills and two blocks
- Kori Adams collected 21 digs, seven assists and an ace
- Molly Lambillotte had 12 digs and four aces; Treslyn Ortiz picked up 13 digs

KEY TROJANS

- Regan Duty had 14 kills while hitting .278
- Jayln Knight, Liliana Kinder and Hailee Wilhelm had six kills each
- Emily Conlin had 32 assists, 27 digs and five kills
- Megan Embry collected 16 digs

NOTES

- Wingate improves to 21-14 in the NCAA Tournament
- The 'Dogs are 16-3 in NCAA Tourney matches in Cuddy Arena
- Wingate is 143-6 in Cuddy Arena overall since 2009
- Wingate is making a SAC-record 14th straight NCAA Tournament appearance
- Saturday will be Wingate's eighth region championship match appearance since the 2009 season
- WU is looking for its fifth region title since 2010
- Wingate improves to 24-4 all-time against Anderson and 15-0 in Cuddy Arena against AU
- The only player in WU history with over 2,000 digs; Adams now has 2,041 in her career
- Givens has 23 kills in this year's regional, hitting .385
- Schaff is hitting .419 with 15 kills in six sets of action in the regional
- Alles is hitting .643 with nine kills to go along with her 72 aces in the regional
- Wingate improves to 376-33 overall since the start of the 2007 season

SET ONE

- Wingate hit .243 with 14 kills and five errors
- Anderson had nine kills and 11 errors, hitting -.053
- Holmquist hit .429 with four kills and two blocks
- Havenaar also had four kills; three kills for Williams
- Alles handed out 13 assists, adding two digs and two blocks
- Kasey Eastland had five digs
- WU raced out to a 5-0 lead, getting two Havenaar kills, along with kills from Givens and Holmquist
- A Conlin block got Anderson within two at 9-7 but a Williams kill and Holmquist block put WU on top 11-7
- Two Holmquist kills gave the Bulldogs a 16-9 advantage
- A Duty kill and Conlin block got AU within three at 18-15, but kills from Williams and Schaff made it 20-15
- A Holmquist kill made it 23-16; an Anderson error put the 'Dogs on top 24-17
- Alles and Holmquist teamed for a block to end the set

SET TWO

- Wingate piled up 19 kills against four errors, hitting .349
- Anderson hit .200 with 11 kills and three errors
- Alles had 12 assists to go along with five kills in six swings
- Givens hit .385 with five kills
- Havenaar added four kills; Lambillotte had eight digs
- Kills from Duty and Kinder gave Anderson a 10-6 lead
- Kills from Williams and Holmquist made it 10-8, but Duty's kill put AU back up by three
- Kills from Alles and Holmquist tied it at 11, but a Duty kill and Knight block put Anderson on top 13-11
- Wingate scored the next 10 points, with the strong serving of Adams sparking the flurry
- Givens had four kills in the spurt, along with two Havenaar kills and an Adams ace
- A kill and an ace from Alles made it 23-16; Schaff's kill made it 24-17
- Schaff ended the frame with a kill

SET THREE

- Anderson had 11 kills and two errors, hitting .310
- Wingate had just five kills and five errors, hitting .000
- Givens led the 'Dogs with two kills; Lambillotte had three digs and an ace
- Kills from Wilhelm and Conlin gave Anderson a 9-3 lead
- A Williams kill and Lambillotte ace made it 12-7, but AU scored nine of the next 10 points
- Conlin had a kill and an ace to start the spurt; WU had five errors
- Two Knight kills made it 24-10; Wilhelm ended it with a kill

SET FOUR

- The Bulldogs had 14 kills and three errors, hitting .306
- Anderson had 14 kills and three errors, hitting .268
- AU had one ace and five service errors; WU had three aces and one error
- Givens piled up six kills and four digs, hitting .385
- Schaff hit .375 with four kills in eight swings
- Adams collected eight digs; Alles had 12 assists and four digs
- Lambillotte had three aces
- A Wilhelm kill and two Wingate errors gave the Trojans a 9-5 advantage
- A kill and a block from Schaff got WU within two, but kills from Duty and Knight made it 13-10
- The 'Dogs responded with a 7-0 run to take the lead for good
- Givens had four kills in the huge flurry, with Schaff adding a pair of kills and Alles providing the serving
- A Wilhelm block got AU within two, but Havenaar's kill made it 19-16
- Kills from Conlin and Kinder got the Trojans within a point at 19-18, but a Williams kill made it 20-18
- Kinder answered with a kill to get AU back within one, but that would be Anderson's last point
- A Givens kill and Lambillotte ace made it 23-19, with another Givens kill making it 24-19
- Lambillotte followed with another ace to send the 'Dogs to the region title match

UP NEXT

- Wingate will face second-seeded USC Aiken Saturday at 7 p.m. in the region title match
- The Bulldogs are 3-2 all-time in regional title matches in Cuddy Arena
- This will be the first time Wingate and USC Aiken have met in the NCAA Tournament
- The winner advances to the NCAA National Quarterfinals in Pittsburgh, Pa.