Rock Hill, S.C.----Facing a 1-0 deficit in the match and trailing 17-9 in the second set, the top-seeded and 25th-ranked Wingate University Bulldogs stormed back to take down third-seeded Anderson University 3-1 in the semifinals of the 2022 South Atlantic Conference volleyball tournament. Wingate won by scores of 22-25, 25-22, 25-18 and 25-13 to improve to 28-2 overall, advancing to Saturday's SAC title match at 2 p.m. The Trojans fall to 21-7 overall. The 'Dogs will play in the SAC title match for the 15th time in the last 18 seasons, looking for their 13th tourney championship in that time frame. Wingate has also won 16 regular season SAC titles during that time span.
KEY STATS
- The Bulldogs piled up a season-high 67 kills against 22 errors in 179 attacks, hitting .251
- Anderson had 44 kills and 21 errors in 172 swings to hit .134
- The 'Dogs registered a season-high 93 digs compared to AU's 78
- Wingate held a 10-8 advantage in blocks
- Each team had three aces
- WU had 19 kills in set two, 17 in the third and 18 in the fourth, hitting over .260 in each frame
- Anderson hit under .200 in every set, hitting below .090 in the last two frames
- The Trojans could only muster seven kills in the final set
KEY BULLDOGS
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Emily Johnson hit .308 with a career-high 16 kills, adding three blocks
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Molly Lambillotte hit .375 with 14 kills and 16 digs for her eighth double-double of the year
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Victoria Wilform hit .226 with 10 kills, adding six digs and three blocks
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Maggie Young hit .462 with eight kills, three blocks and an ace
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Gabby Saye also contributed eight kills
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Shannon Kasprak piled up 54 assists, 19 digs, nine kills, two blocks and an ace
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Maggie Mullen collected a career-high 28 digs;
Taryn Pryce added 10 digs
FIRST SET
- A Meg Sansbury kill gave Anderson a 7-1 lead in the opening frame
- Two Johnson kills and a
Maddie Hoffman ace pulled Wingate within one at 8-7
- A Madison Roy kill pushed the Trojan advantage back to four at 14-10
- Kills from Wilform and Johnson, along with a Young ace tied it at 15
- A Noelle Knutsen block gave Anderson a 20-17 advantage
- Kills from Lambillotte and Wilform cut the lead to one at 23-22
- A WU error made it 24-22; Rylie Sargent ended it with a kill
SECOND SET
- A Sargent kill put the Trojans on top 12-6 in the second frame
- Kills from Johnson and Lambillotte pulled the 'Dogs within four at 13-9
- A Knutsen kill gave Anderson an 18-11 advantage
- WU used a 6-1 run, getting two kills and a block from Saye to pull within two
- A Liliana Kinder kill gave Anderson a 21-18 lead
- Kills from Wilform, Johnson and Lambillotte tied it at 21
- Jaelyn Grimm answered with a kill to put the Trojans back on top by one
- A Johnson kill tied it at 22, while Young and Lambillotte teamed for a block to put WU on top
- An AU error made it 24-22; Lambillotte's kill ended the frame and tied the match
- The 'Dogs scored 14 of the final 18 points in the set
THIRD SET
- A Kinder kill put the Trojans on top 10-8
- Kills from Lambillotte and Saye, along with a Kasprak ace tied it at 11
- Two Johnson kills sparked a 4-0 run that put the Bulldogs on top 15-12
- A Grimm killed pulled Anderson within one at 16-15
- Kills from Johnson and Kasprak, along with a Lambillotte block gave WU a 20-15 edge
- A Lambillotte kill and Young block pushed the advantage to six
- Kills from Kasprak and Saye made it 24-17; a Lambillotte kill ended the frame
FOURTH SET
- Back-to-back Kasprak kills gave the Bulldogs a 6-3 lead in the fourth set
- Two Lambillotte blocks and a Young kill sparked a 4-0 run that made it 10-4
- A Grimm killed pulled Anderson within three at 14-11
- The 'Dogs scored the next six to take a commanding 20-11 lead
- Johnson and Wilform had three kills each in the flurry
- Kills from Wilform, Kasprak, Johnson and Lambillotte made it 24-13; an AU error ended it
UP NEXT
- Wingate will play for a SAC championship Saturday at 2 p.m.
- The Bulldogs will face Carson-Newman in the title match in Rock Hill
- Wingate defeated the Eagles 3-1 in the regular season contest in October
