Hartsville, S.C.----The Wingate University Bulldogs opened the 2024 season in style, sweeping past Belmont Abbey and Francis Marion in NCAA Division II volleyball action Friday afternoon on day one of the Coker Cobras Classic. Wingate rolled to a 25-7, 25-11, 25-17 victory over the Crusaders to start the year, then prevailed 25-15, 25-17 and 25-21 over the Patriots to move to 2-0 on the year.

MATCH ONE | Wingate 3 Belmont Abbey 0

KEY STATS

- Wingate had 44 kills and eight errors in 100 swings, hitting .360
- Belmont Abbey had 16 kills and 14 errors in 94 attacks to hit .021
- The Bulldogs had eight of the 10 blocks
- Wingate registered 11 of the 13 aces
- The 'Dogs held a 49-32 advantage in digs
- WU hit .333 or better in each set, with at least 14 kills in all three frames
- BAC hit -.125 in set one and .000 in the second, with just seven combined kills

KEY BULLDOGS

- Maya Van Heyst piled up 10 kills, 20 assists, 14 digs and six aces to lead the way, hitting .500
- First triple-double by a Bulldog since All-American Shannon Kasprak against Queens (9/23/2021)
- Lorna Stacherski added eight kills and 10 digs
- Emily Johnson hit .700 with seven kills in 10 swings
- Gabby Saye hit .455 with six kills, adding two blocks
- Sydney Morland contributed four kills in six swings, hitting .800 while notching four blocks
- Maddie Hoffman collected nine digs, three assists and an ace in two sets of action
- Katie Jamerson registered 15 assists

SET ONE

- Kills from Johnson and Elsa Lamphere, along with a Stacherski ace gave WU a 5-0 lead
- Kills from Morland, Jamerson and Van Heyst made it 10-3
- The 'Dogs used a 7-0 run to push the lead to 13, getting a kill and three aces from Van Heyst
- Two Johnson kills, along with kills from Saye and Alanna Vavao made it 23-6
- Saye's kill made it 24-7; Vavao ended the frame with a kill

SET TWO

- Kills from Stacherski, Saye and Johnson put the 'Dogs on top 6-3
- A kill and an ace from Johnson, along with a Saye kill made it 11-4
- Wingate used a 6-0 run, getting two kills each from Stacherski and Van Heyst to make it 20-7
- Kills from Johnson and Stacherski, along with back-to-back Van Heyst aces made it 24-8
- Johnson's kill ended the frame

SET THREE

- Kills from Van Heyst, Abby Mas and Jordan Griffin put the 'Dogs on top 9-4
- A Bailey Teter kill pulled the Crusaders within two at 11-9
- Kills from Stacherski, Grace Woodring and Van Heyst gave WU a 16-11 advantage
- Two Van Heyst kills and a Woodring ace made it 20-13
- A kill and a block from Morland made it 22-14
- Kills from Morland and Stacherski gave the Bulldogs a 24-17 lead; Stacherski added a kill to end it

MATCH TWO | Wingate 3 Francis Marion 0

KEY STATS

- Wingate had 48 kills and 12 errors in 123 attacks, hitting .293
- Francis Marion had 30 kills and eight errors in 104 swings to hit .212
- The 'Dogs had 11 of the 15 aces and four of the five blocks
- The Bulldogs held a 46-42 edge in digs
- WU hit .436 with 19 kills and just two errors in set two

KEY BULLDOGS

- Morland had 12 kills in 18 swings, hitting .611 to lead the attack
- Johnson had nine kills without an error in 16 swings to hit .563, adding three blocks
- Van Heyst had eight kills, 16 assists, seven digs and two aces
- Stacherski had seven kills without an error, hitting .412 while adding seven digs
- Saye contributed six kills and two blocks
- Vavao added four kills in two sets of action
- Jamerson handed out 21 assists, adding three digs and three aces
- Hoffman piled up 14 digs, adding four assists and an ace

SET ONE

- A block from Saye and Johnson, followed by back-to-back Stacherski aces gave WU a 4-0 lead
- Two Morland kills, along with kills from Lamphere and Saye made it 10-4
- Madilyn Gartner's kill cut the lead to two at 10-8
- Two Morland kills, along with a Van Heyst kill put the 'Dogs on top 14-9
- WU used a 7-0 run to take a 21-10 lead, getting two Van Heyst aces along with a kill and a block from Johnson
- Kills from Saye, Van Heyst and Lamphere made it 24-14; an FMU error ended the frame

SET TWO

- Two Morland kills and a Van Heyst kill gave the Bulldogs an 8-4 advantage
- WU added a 6-0 run, getting three more Morland kills to stretch the lead to nine
- Kills from Van Heyst and Johnson made it 18-7
- A Mya Mendoza kill pulled the Patriots within four at 20-16
- Kills from Morland and Van Heyst sparked a 4-0 run that made it 24-16
- A Francis Marion service error ended the frame

SET THREE

- Two Vavao kills and a Van Heyst kill gave the 'Dogs a 6-3 lead
- Two Stacherski kills, a Hoffman ace and a Johnson block made it 10-5
- Two Jamerson aces put the 'Dogs on top 17-11
- Back-to-back Katie Floyd aces cut the lead to one at 18-17
- Two Johnson kills and a Stacherski ace gave WU a 22-19 lead
- A pair of Saye kills made it 24-21; Morland's kill ended the match

UP NEXT

- Wingate is back in action Saturday, playing two more matches at Coker
- The 'Dogs face West Virginia Wesleyan at 10 a.m., then take on USC Aiken at 4:45 p.m.