Wingate, N.C.----Wingate University middle blockers Quin Sutphin and Maggie Young combined for 24 kills and 12 blocks Tuesday night, leading the top-seeded Bulldogs to a 3-1 victory over eighth-seeded Tusculum University. Wingate won by scores of 25-15, 22-25, 25-10 and 26-24 to improve to 9-1 overall, advancing to the semifinals, while the Pioneers fall to 2-4 on the season.

KEY STATS

- Wingate hit .331 on the night, Tusculum hit .172
- The Bulldogs piled up 58 kills against 19 digs on 118 attacks
- The Pioneers had 38 kills and 17 errors in 122 attacks
- The 'Dogs piled up 12 blocks compared to Tusculum's six
- Wingate held a 56-35 advantage in digs
- The Bulldogs had seven of the 11 aces on the night
- Wingate hit over .400 in two of the four sets

KEY BULLDOGS

- Young had 12 kills in 17 swings, hitting .706 with five blocks and two aces
- Sutphin hit .391 with 12 kills and seven blocks in her Cuddy Arena debut
- Sophie Schaff had nine kills and five blocks, hitting .412 on the night
- Shannon Kasprak piled up 40 assists, 11 digs, seven kills and three blocks
- Reese Blackley had six kills; Molly Lambillotte added five kills and 10 digs
- Marianna Warren contributed four kills and a block
- Courtney Niesen collected 15 digs, three aces and two assists

FIRST SET

- Kills from Lambillotte and Schaff gave Wingate a 9-5 lead in set one
- The 'Dogs added a 5-0 run, getting three Sutphin kills to make it 14-6
- A kill and a block from young put the 'Dogs on top 19-9
- Two Schaff kills and a Sutphin block made it 23-12; another Sutphin kill made it 24-14
- Lorna Stacherski ended the frame with a kill
- WU hit .538 with 16 kills in 26 swings in set one; Tusculum had eight kills and four errors

SECOND SET

- The Pioneers bounced back with 15 kills in set two, hitting .375
- Two Blackley kills gave Wingate an early 6-4 lead
- A 5-0 Tusculum run was highlighted by two Carly Pigza kills, making it 12-7
- A block and a kill from Warren pulled the 'Dogs within two at 13-11
- A kill from Emiah Burrows put the Pioneers on top 18-12
- Kills from Blackley and Lambillotte trimmed the lead to two at 19-17
- Kills from Young and Warren made it 21-20
- An ace from Kasey Eastland tied it at 22
- Pigza answered with a kill, while a WU error made it 24-22
- A Peyton Gash kill ended the frame

THIRD SET

- The 'Dogs held Tusculum to just four kills and a -.032 hitting percentage in set three
- Wingate hit .423 in the frame with 14 kills and just three errors
- A 7-0 run gave the Bulldogs an 11-4 advantage
- Schaff had two blocks and a kill to highlight the spurt; Sutphin capped it with a kill
- After a Tusculum point, the 'Dogs reeled off another 7-0 run to make it 18-5
- Sutphin had three kills and a block in the spurt; Kasprak added two kills and a block
- Kills from Warren and Anne Abernathy put the 'Dogs on top 23-9
- A Taylor VandenBerg kill made it 24-10; Young's kill ended the frame

FOURTH SET

- The final frame featured nine ties and five lead changes
- A Pigza kill gave the Pioneers an 8-4 lead
- A Schaff kill and two Young kills pulled the Bulldogs within a point
- Kills from Schaff, Kasprak and Lambillotte gave the 'Dogs an 11-10 advantage
- A kill and a block from Bailey Parker put Tusculum on top 14-12
- Kills from Kasprak and Blackley put Wingate on top 15-14
- A kill and a block from Gash, along with a Pigza kill put Tusculum on top 18-15
- A block from Schaff and Young got the 'Dogs within one at 19-18
- A Tusculum error and Young ace tied it at 20; back-to-back WU errors put Tusculum on top by two
- A Lambillotte kill and Tusculum error tied it at 22 but a Gabby Gray kill gave the Pioneers a 23-22 lead
- A Tusculum error tied it at 23; a Sutphin kill gave the Bulldogs a 24-23 advantage
- A Wingate error tied it at 24
- Sutphin answered with a kill to make it 25-24; Blackley and Young teamed for a block to end it

UP NEXT

- Wingate is back in action Thursday, hosting a SAC Tournament semifinal match
- The 'Dogs will welcome Queens to Cuddy Arena at 7 p.m.
- The SAC championship match will be Sunday
- The highest remaining seed will host the title match on Sunday