Wingate, N.C.----The Wingate University Bulldogs claimed the outright regular season SAC title Saturday afternoon, downing Lincoln Memorial University 3-0 in South Atlantic Conference volleyball action in Cuddy Arena. Wingate won by scores of 25-17, 25-9 and 32-30 to improve to 26-1 overall and 19-1 in the SAC, claiming its 12th regular season title in the last 13 years. LMU falls to 18-8 overall and 14-6 in league play.  

THOUGHTS FROM COACH COLLIER

"For us to clinch the regular season championship today was awesome for our team. With LMU being a strong third-place team in the conference to win 3-0 today took some high-level play by our team, which was rewarding to see. Very much like last night, we won convincingly in the first two sets and had to rally back from a huge deficit to win set three. Our players are very excited about hosting the first round of the SAC Tournament Tuesday."  

KEY STATS

- Wingate hit .287 with 41 kills and 10 errors
- LMU had 33 kills and 23 errors, hitting .093
- The Bulldogs had eight blocks compared to Lincoln Memorial's six
- Wingate had eight of the 13 aces in the match
- LMU had 50 digs on the day, two more than Wingate
- The Railsplitters hit under .100 in the first two sets, hitting -.143 in set two

KEY BULLDOGS

- Phoebe Havenaar had nine kills and five blocks, hitting .471
- Anna Holmquist and Sophie Schaff registered eight kills apiece
- Hannah Givens collected six kills; Taylor Williams had five kills in eight swings
- Rachel Alles handed out 36 assists, adding eight digs, two aces and a kill
- Kori Adams picked up 13 digs

NOTES

- 14th regular season SAC title in program history
- Wingate has 22 total SAC titles since start of 2006 (10 tourney, 12 regular season)
- WU improves to 27-1 against LMU
- Wingate is 14-0 vs. LMU in Cuddy Arena
- The 'Dogs have not lost a set vs. LMU in Cuddy Arena since 2009
- 13th time Wingate has held an opponent under .100 this season
- 15th sweep of the year
- Adams is only the second player in WU history with over 1,900 career digs
- Wingate moves to 371-33 overall since the start of the 2007 season
- WU has won 322 of its last 343 regular season matches
- The Bulldogs are 216-12 in league play over the last 12 seasons

SET ONE

- Wingate hit .243 with 14 kills and five errors
- LMU had nine kills and six errors, hitting .097
- Williams had four kills in four swings; Havenaar added four kills in seven swings
- Holmquist and Schaff had three kills apiece
- Three kills from Williams gave Wingate a 14-5 lead
- Back-to-back Tone Gill kills got LMU within four
- Kills from Holmquist and Havenaar made it 18-13
- Back-to-back Gill blocks got the Railsplitters within three at 20-17
- WU scored the final five points, with kills from Schaff and Williams making it 24-17
- Holmquist ended the frame with a kill

SET TWO

- Wingate hit .450 with 10 kills and one error
- Lincoln Memorial had six kills and 10 errors to hit -.143
- Schaff, Holmquist and Givens combined for eight kills in 11 swings
- Williams added a kill and three blocks
- Kills from Schaff, Williams and Havenaar gave WU a 14-4 lead
- Two Williams blocks and a Schaff kill made it 18-6
- A kill and a block from Holmquist put the 'Dogs on top 22-8
- An Adams ace made it 24-9; LMU error ended the set

SET THREE

- The Bulldogs hit .255 with 17 kills and four errors
- LMU hit .224 with 18 kills and seven errors
- Givens, Havenaar and Molly Lambillotte had four kills each
- Alles had 15 assists, four digs and a kill
- A Gill ace gave Lincoln Memorial a 19-12 lead
- Danielle Ged's kill made it 22-15 but WU scored the next six points
- Schaff had a kill and a block in the spurt that got the 'Dogs within one
- LMU led 23-21 when a Havenaar kill and block tied it; Givens ace made it 24-23
- Gill's kill made it 24-24, while another Gill kill put LMU on top 26-25
- Back-to-back Lambillotte kills gave Wingate a 27-26 advantage
- Kills from Ged and Rylee Storms put Lincoln Memorial on top 30-29
- Havenaar tied it at 30 with a kill, then teamed with Schaff for a block to make it 31-30
- Havenaar ended the match with a kill

UP NEXT

- The Bulldogs are the number one seed in next week's SAC Tournament
- Wingate will host a quarterfinal match Tuesday at 7 p.m.
- The semifinals and finals are hosted by Coker College