Franklin Springs, Ga.----The 18th-ranked Wingate University Bulldogs stayed perfect on the season Friday afternoon, cruising to a pair of sweeps against Southern Wesleyan and Francis Marion on day one of the Lion's Den Invitational hosted by Emmanuel College. Wingate started the day with a 3-0 win against Southern Wesleyan, prevailing 25-6, 25-15 and 25-14, while capping the day with by downing Francis Marion 27-25, 25-13 and 25-9 to move to 6-0 overall.

MATCH ONE | #18 Wingate 3 Southern Wesleyan 0

KEY STATS

- Wingate hit .290 for the match with 40 kills and 11 errors in 100 attacks
- Southern Wesleyan had 11 kills and 18 errors in 102 swings, hitting -.069
- The Bulldogs held a 47-25 advantage in digs
- WU had eight of the 13 aces; each team notched four blocks
- SWU never had more than five kills in a set, with just one kill in the opening frame

KEY BULLDOGS

- Gabby Saye hit .462 with seven kills to lead the Wingate attack
- Taylor Robertson added seven kills and 11 digs
- Maggie Young hit .750 with six kills in eight swings
- Sydney Morland and Lorna Stacherski contributed five kills apiece
- Emily Johnson hit .429 with three kills in two sets
- Rayah Givens, Alanna Vavao and Analiese Baldauf added two kills each
- Maya Van Heyst had 10 assists and seven digs
- Clare Sheedy and Katie Jamerson handed out nine assists apiece
- Maddie Hoffman piled up 14 digs and five assists on the match

SET ONE

- Stacherski had three early kills as the 'Dogs jumped out to a 5-0 lead
- Stacehrski and Saye had two kills each in a 7-0 run that made it 13-2
- Two Young kills and a Morland kill put the Bulldogs on top 18-4
- A Young ace and two SWU errors gave WU a 24-6 lead; Robertson's kill ended it

SET TWO

- Kills from Saye and Johnson gave the 'Dogs an early 6-1 lead in set two
- Wingate used a 6-0 run to go on top 17-8, getting two Hoffman aces in the spurt
- Kills from Johnson and Saye made it 20-11
- Kills from Johnnson, Saye and Sheedy put the Bulldogs on top by 10
- A Givens block made it 24-15; Morland's kill ended the frame

SET THREE

- Young and Vavao had two kills apiece as Wingate jumped out to an 8-1 lead in set three
- A Robertson kill and Givens ace put the 'Dogs on top 16-9
- WU finished the match by scoring the final six points, starting with kills from Morland and Robertson
- Back-to-back Baldauf kills made it 24-14; Young's kill ended the match

MATCH TWO | #18 Wingate 3 Francis Marion 0

KEY STATS

- Wingate hit .309 with 39 kills and nine errors in 97 attacks
- Francis Marion had 26 kills and 24 errors in 100 swings, hitting .020
- The Patriots held a 36-33 advantage in digs
- The 'Dogs had eight of the nine blocks and five of the seven aces
- WU held FMU to a .000 hitting percentage in set two and -.111 in the third with just three kills

KEY BULLDOGS

- Johnson hit .500 with eight kills and two blocks to lead the WU attack
- Saye hit .333 with eight kills and two blocks
- Young hit .600 with seven kills and five blocks
- Amber Rowoldt contributed seven kills
- Stacherski had four kills and five digs
- Jamerson had 17 assists, four digs and a kill
- Van Heyst added 13 assists and four digs
- Mullen had nine digs, two aces, two kills and an assist

SET ONE

- A Kara Walker kill gave Francis Marion an 11-8 lead
- Kills from Rowoldt and Saye cut the lead to one
- Kills from Morland and Young capped a 4-0 run that gave the 'Dogs a 15-13 lead
- Walker's kill put FMU back on top 20-19
- Three straight Francis Marion errors gave the Bulldogs a 22-20 advantage
- A Camryn Faggart kill put the Patriots back on top 23-22
- Two more FMU errors gave WU a 24-23 lead
- Caroline Lucas tied it at 25 with a kill
- Young's kill put the 'Dogs back on top; Stacherski finished the frame with an ace

SET TWO

- An ace and a kill from Mullen gave the Bulldogs an 8-3 lead in set two
- A kill and a block from Morland made it 13-6
- A 7-0 run stretched the Wingate lead to 11
- A kill and an ace from Rowoldt started the spurt; Johnson capped it with back-to-back kills
- Young's kill made it 24-12; a Young block ended the set

SET THREE

- Back-to-back kills from Young gave Wingate an 8-2 advantage
- A Rowoldt kill and Johnson block made it 13-5
- Two Johnson kills and a Rowoldt kill stretched the advantage to 10
- WU scored the final six points of the match, starting with a Saye kill to make it 20-9
- A kill and an ace from Mullen made it 24-9; Saye and Young teamed for a block to end it

UP NEXT

- Wingate has two more matches in Georgia Saturday
- The Bulldogs get started by taking on Eckerd at 10 a.m.
- The 'Dogs wrap up the weekend at 5:30 p.m. against Erskine