Wingate, N.C.----The top-seeded and 23rd-ranked Wingate University Bulldogs are onto the SAC Tournament semifinals after sweeping past eighth-seeded UVA Wise Tuesday night in the quarterfinals of the 2024 South Atlantic Conference volleyball tournament in Cuddy Arena. Wingate won by scores of 25-17, 25-24 and 25-21 to improve to 26-2 overall, pushing its winning streak to 18 and advancing to Thursday's SAC Tournament semifinals. The Cavaliers end their season at 12-16 overall.

KEY STATS

- Wingate had 52 kills and 11 errors in 138 swings, hitting .297
- UVA Wise had 40 kills and 17 errors in 145 attacks to hit .159
- The Bulldogs held a 7-5 advantage in blocks
- The Cavs had five of the nine aces
- The 'Dogs held a 75-68 advantage in digs
- WU had 18 kills in each of the first two sets, hitting .421 in the opening frame
- UVA Wise had 17 kills in set two and 15 in the third after just eight kills in set one

KEY BULLDOGS

- Emily Johnson hit .333 with 11 kills, four blocks, two digs and an ace
- Lorna Stacherski hit .333 with 10 kills
- Maya Van Heyst had 23 assists, 13 digs and eight kills, hitting .333
- Elsa Lamphere had eight kills and 22 digs to go along with an ace and a block
- Sydney Morland contributed eight kills and three blocks on the night
- Gabby Saye hit .353 with seven kills, nine digs and five blocks
- Katie Jamerson handed out 17 assists to go along with seven digs
- Maddie Hoffman had 13 digs, seven assists and two aces

SET ONE

- Two Morland kills, along with a Saye kill and Johnson ace gave Wingate a 5-2 lead
- An Abigail Curtis ace put the Cavs on top 8-7
- The 'Dogs scored the next 10 points behind the strong serving of Hoffman
- Van Heyst and Stacherski had two kills each in the spurt that gave WU a 17-8 lead
- Kills from Stacherski and Johnson put the 'Dogs on top 20-11
- Kills from Saye, Morland and Van Heyst made it 23-16; a Stacherski kill made it 24-17
- Johnson's kill ended the frame

SET TWO

- A Johnson kill and Morland block gave the Bulldogs a 6-3 lead
- A Morland kill and two Van Heyst kills made it 10-6
- A Kaylee Scarce kill and Kamryn Livingston ace tied it at 11
- Three straight kills from Lamphere gave the 'Dogs an 18-14 advantage
- The Cavs used a 4-0 run to take a 21-20 lead on a Riley Brandon kill
- A Stacherski kill, Hoffman ace and Johnson kill gave Wingate a 23-21 advantage
- Kills from Cassidy Farley and Riley Brandon tied it at 24
- Saye answered with a kill to make it 25-24; Saye and Johnson teamed for a block to end the set

SET THREE

- Kills from Lamphere, Van Heyst, Johnson and Stacherski gave WU an 8-5 lead
- A Scarce kill pulled the Cavs within one at 11-10
- A Morland kill and Lamphere ace made it 13-10, but a Serina Peterson kill cut it to two
- Wingate scored the next five, getting a kill and a block from Johnson to go on top 18-11
- UVA Wise scored nine of the next 11, cutting it to two at 22-20 on a Peterson block
- Lamphere and Morland answered with a block to give the 'Dogs a 23-20 advantage
- A Lamphere kill made it 24-21; a UVA Wise error ended the match

UP NEXT

- Wingate is back in action Thursday in the SAC Tournament semifinals
- The Bulldogs will take on Mars Hill at 4:30 p.m. at the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center
- The winner advances to Friday night's SAC championship match at 7 p.m. in Rock Hill