Rock Hill, S.C.----The top-seeded and 15th-ranked Wingate University Bulldogs are onto the SAC title match for the 18th time in the last 21 years after sweeping past fourth-seeded Carson-Newman in the semifinals of the 2025 South Atlantic Conference volleyball tournament Friday evening. Wingate won by scores of 25-14, 25-21 and 25-15 to improve to 27-1 overall, advancing to Saturday's SAC championship match to face Lenoir-Rhyne at 3 p.m. The Eagles fall to 24-5 on the season. The 'Dogs have now won 26 straight matches.

KEY STATS

- Wingate had 50 kills and 15 errors in 140 attacks, hitting .250
- Carson-Newman had 28 kills and 16 errors in 137 swings to hit .088
- Each team had three blocks
- The 'Dogs had five of the seven aces
- The Bulldogs held an 80-66 advantage in digs
- WU piled up 19 kills in set one, hitting .447
- C-N had just six kills in the third, hitting .000

KEY BULLDOGS

- Maya Van Heyst notched a triple-double with 31 assists, 21 digs and 10 kills, adding two aces
- Emily Johnson hit .476 with 11 kills, eight digs and a block
- Sydney Morland hit .333 with 11 kills and a block
- Gabby Saye notched eight kills, four digs and three blocks
- Abby Mas added five kills
- Rylee Tanner had three kills, 13 digs and three assists
- Maddie Hoffman registered 13 digs, five assists and an ace
- Maggie Fillauer added 11 digs

SET ONE

- A Trinity Hafey ace gave the Eagles an 8-6 lead
- Wingate scored the next seven, getting three kills from Saye to go on top 14-8
- Back-to-back Van Heyst kills put the 'Dogs on top 17-10
- Aces from Hoffman and Van Hesyt sparked a 4-1 run that made it 21-12
- Kills from Van Heyst and Saye made it 24-14; another Saye kill ended the set

SET TWO

- An Emerson Asmuhs kill gave Carson-Newman a 6-3 advantage
- Kills from Van Heyst, Hoffman and Mas highlighted a 5-0 run that gave WU a 10-8 lead
- A Raychel Ehlers ace cut the lead to one at 12-11
- WU scored the next five, getting two kills and a block from Morland to go on top 17-11
- An Asmuhs kill pulled the Eagles back within two at 19-17
- A Morland kill sparked a 3-0 run to give the Bulldogs a 22-17 cushion
- Johnson's kill made it 23-18
- A C-N error made it 24-20; another error ended the frame

SET THREE

- A 6-0 run gave Wingate a 7-2 lead, getting two Morland kills and two Hailey Green aces
- A Mas kill put the 'Dogs on top 9-3
- Kills from Tanner and Johnson, along with a Van Hesyt ace and Saye block made it 14-5
- Back-to-back Johnson kills stretched the lead to 10 at 16-6
- Kills from Saye and Van Heyst made it 20-11
- Kills from Morland and Van Heyst highlighted a 3-0 run to give Wingate a 23-12 advantage
- A Van Heyst kill made it 24-14; a Carson-Newman error ended the match

UP NEXT

- Wingate is on to the SAC title match Saturday at 3 p.m. in Rock Hill
- The Bulldogs will take on Lenoir-Rhyne, who defeated Anderson 3-2 Friday night
- The 'Dogs defeated LR 3-1 in both regular season matches this season
- Wingate has won 14 of the last 19 SAC Tournament titles, including last year's championship