Wingate, N.C.----The top-seeded and 24th-ranked Wingate University Bulldogs swept past the second-seeded Pacers of USC Aiken in the championship match of the 2018 NCAA Southeast Regional Tournament in front of a capacity crowd inside Cuddy Arena. Wingate won by scores of 25-23, 25-20 and 27-25 to improve to 32-1 overall, advancing to the NCAA National Quarterfinals in Pittsburgh, Pa. The Pacers end their season at 23-5.

THOUGHTS FROM COACH COLLIER

"What a proud day for Wingate volleyball and our entire team. This was obviously a hard-fought match and an impressive win for us. To be honest, we never talked about going to the national quarterfinals or winning regionals at any point all year. We really did play it one match at a time and one week at a time all season. The culmination of all that work, effort and progress, coming back from injuries and playing awesome tonight is really rewarding. It is amazing that this team has earned an opportunity to represent Wingate, our conference and our region at the national finals. We had some great performances tonight and it was really special to win it in front of a huge crowd."

THOUGHTS FROM KORI ADAMS

"Tonight was absolutely incredible and I am so proud of this team for accomplishing this goal of ours. We have worked so hard this season for one another and that showed on the court tonight. The atmosphere in the gym was amazing and this will forever be one of my favorite memories of Wingate volleyball. Thank you to everyone who made this possible. I couldn't think of a team that deserved this more."

KEY STATS

- Wingate hit .252 on the match, piling up 52 kills against 20 errors
- USC Aiken had 36 kills and 13 errors, hitting .200
- The Pacers had seven blocks compared to Wingate's six
- The 'Dogs had 56 digs while USCA had 51
- Wingate had four aces compared to one from USC Aiken
- The 'dogs hit over .275 in each of the first two sets
- WU had over 15 kills in each frame
- USC Aiken had no more than 13 kills in any set

KEY BULLDOGS

- All-American Anna Holmquist had 11 kills in 22 swings, hitting .455 while adding four blocks
- Taylor Williams hit .300 with 10 kills; Sophie Schaff added nine kills and three blocks
- Phoebe Havenaar also had nine kills and two blocks; Hannah Givens had eight kills and seven digs
- Rachel Alles piled up 46 assists, four digs, three kills and two blocks
- Treslyn Ortiz had a match-high 15 digs; Kori Adams added nine digs; Kasey Eastland had eight digs and two aces

NOTES

- Wingate improves to 22-14 in the NCAA Tournament; most wins of any SAC team
- The 'Dogs are 17-3 in NCAA Tourney matches in Cuddy Arena
- Wingate is 144-6 in Cuddy Arena overall since 2009
- Wingate is making a SAC-record 14th straight NCAA Tournament appearance
- This was the eighth region title match appearance since 2009
- Fifth region title, all since 2010
- Fourth time the 'Dogs have won the region title in Cuddy Arena
- Third time Wingate has swept the region title match
- Second-most kills in a three-set match for Wingate this season
- Wingate moves to 12-9 all-time against USCA; 6-3 in Cuddy Arena vs. the Pacers
- The only player in WU history with over 2,000 digs; Adams now has 2,050 in her career
- Givens had 31 kills in this year's regional, hitting over .300
- Schaff hit .355 with 24 kills in nine sets of action in the regional
- Alles hit .524 with 12 kills to go along with her 118 assists in the regional
- Wingate improves to 377-33 overall since the start of the 2007 season

SET ONE

- Wingate hit .278 with 17 kills and seven errors
- USC Aiken hit .241 with 11 kills and four errors
- Havenaar had five kills, hitting .333
- Holmquist had four kills in five swings; Williams had four kills in seven swings
- Schaff added three kills in five swings; Alles piled up 17 assists
- A Holmquist kill put WU on top 10-8, but a Kayla Duggan kill got USCA within one at 11-10
- A Holmquist block and Eastland ace made it 13-10, but two kills from Brittany Vialdores tied it at 14
- A Williams kill put the 'Dogs on top by three, but a Vialdores block made it 17-16
- Two Havenaar kills made it 20-17, but two WU errors tied it at 20
- Kills from Holmquist and Williams put the 'Dogs ahead 23-21, but a Vialdores kill tied it at 23
- Schaff's kill gave Wingate a 24-23 lead; the sophomore added another kill to end the frame

SET TWO

- Wingate hit .387 with 16 kills and four errors
- USC Aiken had 13 kills and three errors, hitting .286
- Holmquist had four kills in five swings
- Givens had four kills in 11 swings; Havenaar had three kills in six swings
- A Havenaar kill and Ortiz ace gave the 'Dogs a 9-6 lead
- A Christine Carroll kill got Aiken within one, but kills from Givens and Holmquist made it 13-10
- A Holmquist kill and Eastland ace made it 17-13
- WU used a 4-0 run, getting two Havenaar kills to take a 20-14 lead
- Carroll's kill got the Pacers within four, but kills from Williams and Givens made it 23-18
- An Alles kill made it 24-18; Holmquist ended the set with a kill

SET THREE

- Williams hit .333 with nine kills; Schaff also had four kills
- Givens and Holmquist added three kills apiece
- Alles handed out 15 assists; Ortiz and Molly Lambillotte had six digs apiece
- A Vialdores kill put Aiken on top 8-6 but kills from Givens, Schaff and Holmquist put WU on top
- A Carroll kill put USCA back on top, but a Williams kill and Schaff block gave the 'Dogs the lead
- A Schaff kill and Havenaar block made it 16-13, but a Carroll kill got USCA within one at 19-18
- Scahff's kill made it 20-18 but an Alie Smith kill and two WU errors gave USCA a 21-20 lead
- Kills from Schaff and Lambillotte tied it at 22; Alles added a kill to make it 23-22
- Lambillotte's kill made it 24-22, but a Vialdores block tied it at 24
- Havenaar's kill made it 25-24, but Vialdores tied it at 25 with a kill
- Givens slammed home a kill to make it 26-25; a USC Aiken error ended the match

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Kayla Brockaw, Georgia College
Taylor Svehla, Georgia College
Emily Conlin, Anderson
Regan Duty, Anderson
Kayla Duggan, USC Aiken
Alie Smith, USC Aiken
Brittani Vialdores, USC Aiken
Rachel Alles, Wingate
Hannah Givens, Wingate
Phoebe Havenaar, Wingate
Anna Holmquist, Wingate
Sophie Schaff, Wingate

UP NEXT

- Wingate advances to the NCAA National Quarterfinals in Pittsburgh, Pa.
- The quarterfinals begin Thursday, Nov. 29
- The seeding for the quarterfinals will be announced Sunday at 3 p.m. on NCAA.com