Senior middle blocker Stormi Gale (Richmond, Texas) notched season highs of 19 kills, 20 digs and six blocks to lead the Wingate attack. The two-time SAC Player of the Year hit .327 on the afternoon. Sophomore middle blocker Grace Krauser (Louisville, Ky.) had a career day, piling up 15 kills and six blocks, while hitting .394. Freshman outside hitter Cory McGowan (Pittsburgh, Pa.) added 14 kills and 11 digs for the Bulldogs. Junior setter Liz Willis (Raleigh, N.C.) had 39 assists, 16 digs and four aces, while senior setter Amanda Clark (Timberlake, N.C.) contributed 23 assists and 12 digs.
Newberry senior outside hitter Kara Harris (Grandview, Texas) had a match-high 20 kills to go along with 16 digs. Freshman outside hitter Samantha Parrish (Angola, Ind.) added 17 kills and 19 digs for the Wolves. Freshman outside hitter Anne Staudinger (Fort Wayne, Ind.) collected 11 kills, while junior Brittany Wood (Pendleton, S.C.) registered 10 kills. Senior setter Brianna Blakely (Houston, Texas) had 52 assists and 17 digs, while senior libero Nadia Andrade (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) racked up a match-high 36 digs.
The Bulldogs jumped out to a 12-6 lead in the opening frame on a kill from senior outside hitter Lauren Billo (Orland Park, Ill.). Newberry answered with an 8-2 run to tie the set at 14 on a Staudinger kill. An ace from Blakely gave the Wolves the advantage at 19-18. A Gale kill, followed by a block from Gale and sophomore outside hitter Katie Handy (Palos Verdes, Calif.), put Wingate on top 20-19. Harris tied it at 21 with a kill. Krauser answered with a kill, while a Willis ace made it 23-21. A Newberry error gave the ‘Dogs a 24-22 lead, as Billo concluded the set with a kill.
A Harris kill, followed by an ace from senior middle blocker Leah Nye (Hoover, Ala.), gave Newberry a 14-6 lead in the second set. Wingate used a 5-0 run to cut the lead to two at 15-13. Gale had a pair of blocks in the spurt. Back-to-back Parrish kills, followed by a kill from Harris, pushed the Newberry lead to 19-15. The ‘Dogs scored the next five points to take a 20-19 lead. Gale got it started with a kill, while McGowan added a kill and a block to tie it. A block from Handy and senior middle blocker Rebecca Bloemer (Louisville, Ky.) put Wingate on top. The Wolves answered by scoring five of the next seven points to take a 24-22 lead. Harris tied it at 22, while two Wingate errors gave Newberry the advantage. The Wolves claimed the set on a Wingate error.
A pair of McGowan kills, along with a Billo kill, put Wingate on top 15-8 in the third set. A Staudinger kill cut the lead to four at 16-12. The Bulldogs answered with a 3-0 run, capped by a Handy kill, to take a 19-12 lead. The Wolves would get no closer than five the rest of the way, with Handy finishing the set with a kill.
A pair of Harris kills gave Newberry a 12-9 lead in the fourth set. The Bulldogs scored the next six points to take a 15-12 advantage. Willis sparked the flurry with a pair of aces, while Handy finished it with a pair of kills. The Wolves battled back, taking an 18-17 lead on back-to-back Parrish kills. Newberry took a 21-20 lead on a kill from Nye. A McGowan kill, followed by a Willis ace, put Wingate on top 22-21. Sophomore outside hitter Katie Davenport (Tyrone, Ga.) gave Newberry a 24-23 lead with a kill. The Bulldogs tied it at 24 with a block from Krauser and Billo. Parrish gave the Wolves a 25-24 lead with a kill. A Wingate error would send the match to a fifth set.
Kills from Parrish and Nye put the Wolves on top 10-7 in the fifth set. Bloemer answered with a kill, while Krauser and Handy added a block to trim the lead to one. A Nye kill made it 11-9. Wingate scored the next three points to take its first lead of the set, capped by a Newberry error. The Wolves tied it at 12 on a Wingate error. Krauser gave the Bulldogs a 13-12 lead, while Gale pushed the advantage to two with a kill. Billo capped the match with a kill for the Bulldogs.
Wingate hit .282 on the match, with 74 kills and 17 errors in 202 attacks. The Wolves hit .225, with 71 kills and 25 errors in 204 attacks. Wingate piled up a season-high 15 blocks on the afternoon. Krauser and Gale led the way with six each, while Handy added five. Willis had four of Wingate’s five aces. Nye led the Wolves with two aces on the day.
The Bulldogs advance to the semifinals, where they will face the winner of the Carson-Newman College versus Catawba match. The semifinal contest takes place at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in Goodman Gymnasium.
(Wingate University assistant sports information director Hugh Patton wrote this article. Patton is a 2006 Wingate graduate with a B.A. degree in Communication Studies.)
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