Wingate, N.C.----After 451 days without volleyball, the Wingate University Bulldogs returned to the floor Tuesday night and swept past the visiting Lenoir-Rhyne University Bears in South Atlantic Conference volleyball action in Cuddy Arena. Wingate won by scores of 25-15, 25-20 and 26-24 to move to 1-0 on the season and 1-0 in the SAC. The Bears fall to 1-2 overall and 1-2 in league play.

KEY STATS

- Wingate hit .230 on the night, Lenoir-Rhyne hit .097
- The 'Dogs piled up 50 kills against 18 errors; LR had 28 kills and 15 errors
- The Bears had six blocks on the night compared to four from the Bulldogs
- Wingate had three of the five aces in the match
- The 'Dogs held an 83-63 advantage in digs on the night
- WU hit over .280 in two of the three sets; LR hit under .100 in two frames
- Wingate had at least 16 kills in every set

KEY BULLDOGS

- Sophie Schaff hit .303 with 13 kills to lead the Wingate offense
- Maggie Young hit .353 with eight kills and four blocks
- Molly Lambillotte contributed eight kills and 12 digs
- Reese Blackley also had eight kills on the night
- Shannon Kasprak piled up 40 assists, 14 digs and six kills
- Anne Abernathy and Marianna Warren added four and three kills, respectively
- Courtney Niesen piled up 20 digs; Taryn Pryce added 11 digs

FIRST SET

- Two Young kills, along with a kill and block from Blackley gave WU an early 5-2 lead
- Lambillotte and Schaff had two kills apiece in a 4-0 run that made it 10-4
- A Kasprak kill and Lambillotte ace pushed the advantage to eight at 13-5
- Kills from Abernathy, Lambillotte and Young gave the 'Dogs an 18-9 lead
- Kills from Lambillotte and Schaff made it 23-13; A Blackley kill made it 24-14
- Kasprak ended the frame with a kill
- Wingate hit .378 with 16 kills in the opening frame

SECOND SET

- Three kills from Warren gave the Bulldogs an early 6-1 lead
- A Collette Romp kill pulled the Bears within three at 10-7
- Kills from Blackley and Young pushed the lead back to five at 12-7
- LR used a 5-0 run to tie it at 13, getting four WU errors in the spurt
- Kills from Abernathy and Schaff sparked a 3-0 run that made it 16-13
- Kills from Kasprak and Young, along with a Kasprak ace put the 'Dogs on top 20-15
- Another kill from Romp cut the lead to three at 22-19
- Kills from Lambillotte and Abernathy made it 24-19
- Schaff ended the frame with a kill
- The 'Dogs piled up 18 kills in the frame, hitting .289

THIRD SET

- A Taylor Prall kill gave the Bears an 8-6 lead
- A Kasprak kill gave the Bulldogs a 9-8 advantage
- LR scored the next four, getting two Hawkins kill to take a 12-9 lead
- Kills from Schaff and Young cut the lead to one at 14-13
- A Prall kill and Wingate error gave the Bears a 20-16 advantage
- A Schaff kill and back-to-back Lenoir-Rhyne errors got Wingate to within one
- A Hayley Stull block put LR on top 22-20, but a Schaff kill cut the lead back to one
- Romp gave the Bears a 23-21 lead with a kill
- Blackley got WU back within one with a kill, but a Prall kill made it 24-22
- Wingate scored the final four points of the frame to claim the match
- A Lenoir-Rhyne service error and attack error tied it at 24
- An ace from Pryce gave Wingate a 25-24 advantage
- Lambillotte ended the match with a kill

UP NEXT

- Wingate is at Anderson Friday at 7 p.m.
- The Bulldogs travel to Newberry Saturday at 2 p.m.
- The 'Dogs are back home next Tuesday, hosting Catawba at 7 p.m.