Rock Hill, S.C.----The top-seeded and 23rd-ranked Wingate University Bulldogs are on to the SAC title match after sweeping past fourth-seeded Mars Hill University in the semifinals of the 2024 South Atlantic Conference volleyball tournament. Wingate won by scores of 25-17, 25-18 and 25-22 to improve to 27-2 overall, advancing to Friday night's SAC championship match. Mars Hill falls to 17-10 on the season. The Bulldogs enter the championship match on a 19-match winning streak.

KEY STATS

- Wingate had 49 kills and 14 errors in 141 attacks, hitting .248
- Mars Hill had 40 kills and 19 errors in 158 swings to hit .133
- The Bulldogs had two of the three aces on the day
- The Lions had all three blocks
- The 'Dogs held an 86-71 advantage in digs
- Wingate had 17 kills in set two and 18 in set three, hitting .326 in the second frame
- MHU did not hit over .170 in any set, with 11 kills in the opening frame, hitting .083

KEY BULLDOGS

- Elsa Lamphere piled up 14 kills and nine digs, hitting .294 to lead the offense
- Sydney Morland hi t.429 with nine kills
- Gabby Saye hit .304 with eight kills and six digs
- Lorna Stacherski contributed six kills and two digs
- Emily Johnson added six kills, three digs, two assists and an ace
- Maya Van Heyst had 27 assists, 11 digs and four assists
- Katie Jamerson had 13 assists and 11 digs
- Maddie Hoffman picked up 24 digs, adding five assists
- Maggie Fillauer piled up 16 digs

SET ONE

- Johnson and Lamphere had two kills apiece to give the 'Dogs an early 8-1 lead
- Kaitlyn Grant's kill cut the lead to five at 11-6
- Kills from Saye and Stacherski made it 14-7
- Kills from Lamphere and Saye put the 'Dogs on top 17-10
- Kills from Van Heyst and Jamerson made it 21-13
- Back-to-back MHU errors made it 24-15; Stacherski's kill ended it

SET TWO

- Kills from Saye and Lamphere gave the Bulldogs a 5-2 advantage in set two
- Jada Cannon's kill tied it at five, but WU answered with a 5-0 run
- Lamphere had two kills in the spurt, with Van Heyst and Saye each adding a kill to make it 10-5
- Two Morland kills and a Jamerson kill gave Wingate a 15-8 lead
- A Skylar Ogden kill cut the lead to two at 16-14, but Johnson's kill pushed the lead back to three
- A Nikkayla Stewart kill cut the lead to one at 19-18
- The Bulldogs responded by scoring the final six points of the set, starting with two Morland kills
- Another Morland kill made it 24-18; a Mars Hill error ended the set

SET THREE

- Kills from Saye and Morland gave the Bulldogs an 11-9 advantage
- Lamphere's kill extended the lead to three at 14-11
- Grant's kill pulled the Lions within one at 15-14
- Kills from Van Heyst and Saye put the 'Dogs on top 18-15
- Ogden's kill cut it back to one at 20-19
- Morland's kill made it 22-20, but a WU error cut the lead back to one
- Back-to-back Stacherski kills made it 24-21
- Johnson's kill ended the match

UP NEXT

- Wingate will play in the SAC championship match Friday at 7 p.m. in Rock Hill
- The 'Dogs are looking for their 16th tourney title in program history
- The Bulldogs have won 13 of the last 18 tourney championships, with the most recent in 2022
- Wingate will face the winner of the Anderson vs. Lenoir-Rhyne match for the title