Rock Hill, S.C.----For the second straight year, the top-seeded and 15th-ranked Wingate University Bulldogs swept through the SAC volleyball tournament, taking down third-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne 3-0 in the SAC volleyball title match Saturday afternoon. Wingate won by scores of 25-18, 25-21 and 25-20 to improve to 28-1 overall and push its winning streak to 27 matches. The Bears fall to 22-7 on the season.

KEY STATS

- Wingate had 48 kills and nine errors in 126 attacks to hit .310
- Lenoir-Rhyne had 40 kills and 17 errors in 127 swings to hit .181
- The 'Dogs had four of the six blocks
- The Bears recorded five of the nine aces
- LR held a 65-61 advantage in digs
- WU hit over .300 in all three frames, with 14 or more kills in all three sets including 19 in the third
- Lenoir-Rhyne hit just .065 with 11 kills and eight errors in set one

KEY BULLDOGS

- Gabby Saye hit .364 with nine kills to lead the attack
- Emily Johnson had eight kills, five digs, two blocks and an ace
- Alanna Vavao hit .400 with eight kills
- Sydney Morland added eight kills and two blocks
- Abby Mas contributed seven kills and four digs
- Maya Van Heyst piled up 36 assists, 10 digs, six kills and two blocks
- Maddie Hoffman collected 17 digs, six assists, an ace and a kill
- Rylee Tanner added 10 digs, a kill and an ace

NOTES

- 17th SAC Tournament title in program history
- 15 of those have come in the last 20 years
- The 'Dogs also have 21 regular season SAC titles, with 19 in the last 20 years
- The Bulldogs have piled up 38 total conference championships
- Wingate has 34 SAC titles in the last two decades
- 14th time in the last 20 years WU has won both SAC titles in the same year
- The 'Dogs have swept through last two tourneys, winning 18 straight sets
- The Bulldogs have played in 18 of the last 21 SAC title matches
- Wingate adds this title to the first undefeated SAC regular season since 2013
- Van Heyst was named the SAC Tourney MVP
- The All-American averaged 11.3 assists, 4.1 digs and 2.7 kills per set in the tourney, hitting .488
- Morland was also made the All-Tourney Team
- The back-to-back SAC Player of the Year averaged 3.8 kills per set while hitting .426, adding six blocks
- Hoffman also made the All-Tournament squad
- The first team All-SAC libero averaged 5.3 digs per set, adding 14 assists, three aces and two kills

SET ONE

- Kills from Johnson and Mas, along with Johnson's ace gave WU an early 5-0 lead
- A Kayli Cleaver kill cut the lead to two at 6-4
- Kills from Morland, Vavao and Johnson, along with Hoffman's ace made it 11-5
- A Mas kill sparked a 4-0 run that put the 'Dogs on top 17-9
- Cleaver's kill cut the lead to four at 19-15
- Kills from Johnson, Vavao and Van Heyst gave WU a 22-15 cushion
- A Johnson block and Vavao kill made it 24-17; Saye's kill ended the frame

SET TWO

- Kills from Saye and Johnson, along with a Maggie Fillauer ace gave Wingate an 11-8 lead
- Mas's kill stretched the lead to four at 13-9
- Kills from Morland and Hoffman put the 'Dogs on top 16-10
- Kills from Saye and Johnson made it 20-13
- An Emmaleigh Allen kill cut the lead to four at 22-18, but a Morland kill pushed it back to five
- A Lenoir-Rhyne attack error ended the set

SET THREE

- Two Van Heyst kills, a Mas kill and a Tanner ace gave Wingate an 8-5 advantage
- An Averie Dale block tied it at 12
- WU scored the next seven, getting two kills and a block from Morland to take a 19-12 lead
- Two Vavao kills and a Saye kill made it 23-14
- Saye's kill put the 'Dogs on top 24-17
- A Hadley Prince ace made it 24-20
- Saye answered with a kill to give the 'Dogs another title

UP NEXT

- Wingate will learn its postseason future Monday, Nov. 24
- The NCAA will announce the full Division II field live on NCAA.com at 7:30 p.m.
- The Bulldogs have been the number one team in every NCAA Southeast Region poll this year
- Wingate looks to earn region hosting duties for the 12th time in 17 years
- The 'Dogs have won seven region titles, including last year's championship
- WU also won the 2022 regional in Cuddy Arena