Greeneville, Tenn.----The 17th-ranked Wingate University Bulldogs claimed another outright regular season conference title Friday night, sweeping past Tusculum University in South Atlantic Conference volleyball action. Wingate won by scores of 25-19, 25-16 and 25-22 to improve to 24-1 overall and 17-0 in the SAC, while the Pioneers fall to 8-14 overall and 6-10 in league play. The 'Dogs have now won 23 straight matches. Wingate has won 19 of the last 20 regular season SAC titles, adding 14 tournament titles over the past 19 seasons, good for 33 total league championships in 20 years.

KEY STATS

- Wingate had 54 kills and 16 errors in 137 swings, hitting .277
- Tusculum had 32 kills and 14 errors in 138 swings to hit .130
- The 'Dogs had nine of the 12 blocks on the night
- The Pioneers had four of the seven aces
- Wingate held a 77-62 advantage in digs
- WU had 19 kills in set two, hitting .333 while piling up 21 kills in the third, hitting .306

KEY BULLDOGS

- Emily Johnson had 15 kills in 23 swings without an error, hitting .652
- Gabby Saye added 12 kills and five blocks, hitting .345
- The All-American went over 1,000 career kills during the match
- Alanna Vavao contributed 11 kills and three digs
- Sydney Morland had nine kills and seven blocks
- Maya Van Heyst piled up 39 assists, 12 digs, five kills and two blocks
- Maddie Hoffman had 33 digs and eight assists; Maggie Fillauer added 10 digs

SET ONE

- Kills from Morland and Vavao gave Wingate a 9-6 lead in set one
- Two Morland blocks and a Van Heyst kill stretched the lead to five at 13-8
- A Mackenzie Land kill capped a 6-1 run to trim the lead to one at 15-14
- A Johnson kill and Abby Mas block sparked a 3-0 run to stretch the lead back to four
- A kill and a block from Van Heyst put the 'Dogs on top 22-18
- A Morland kill and Fillauer ace made it 24-19; Saye's kill ended the frame

SET TWO

- Two Johnson kills and two Vavao kill gave Wingate an 8-4 lead in set two
- A Karris Oller kill pulled Tusculum to within one at 10-9
- Kills from Mas and Saye gave the 'Dogs a 12-9 advantage
- WU used a 6-1 run to take an 18-11 lead, getting a pair of Johnson kills in the flurry
- Kills from Johnson and Saye, along with a Morland block made it 21-15
- Two kills and a block from Saye gave Wingate a 24-16 lead; Morland ended the set with a kill

SET THREE

- Three early kills from Saye gave the Bulldogs a 7-1 lead in set three
- Back-to-back Johnson kills made it 10-3
- A Breana Pelbath kill capped a 4-0 TU run that cut the lead to one at 15-14
- Two Johnson kills, along with a pair of Vavao kills put the 'Dogs on top 19-15
- The Pioneers scored the next four, tying it at 19 on an Isabella Bianchin kill
- The 'Dogs scored the next four, with two Morland kills and a Vavao kill making it 23-19
- A Mia Wave-Nelson ace pulled the Pioneers back within one at 23-22
- Saye's kill made it 24-22; another Saye kill ended the match

UP NEXT

- Wingate wraps up the regular season next Friday, traveling to Anderson for a 7 p.m. start