Junior setter Liz Willis (Raleigh, N.C.) earned second team honors, while Cory McGowan (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Anna Hilton (Hickory, N.C.) earned All-Freshman laurels. Shelton Collier was named the Coach of the Year for the fourth consecutive season. Collier shares the COTY honor with Tusculum College’s Michael Robinson.
Gale leads the conference with a .389 hitting percentage, while ranking fourth with 3.32 kills per set. The 2009 Southeast Region Player of the Year is third in the league with 0.98 blocks per set and seventh with 0.32 aces per set. Her .389 hitting percentage ranks 13th nationally. Gale has notched nine double-doubles this season and has 39 for her career. She is second on Wingate’s all-time charts with 1,474 kills, while also ranking in the top six in career aces and block assists. Gale collected her 1,000th career dig in Saturday’s win at Anderson (S.C.) University.
Gale has had double-digit kills in 17 of her 25 matches this season. She has hit over .400 13 times on the year. “The South Atlantic Conference seems to be getting stronger each year; there were several very good seniors and younger players who had great seasons,” Collier says. “Stormi has been a very special player and is definitely deserving of the Player of the Year honors.”
Billo earns first team All-SAC honors for the second consecutive season, while earning All-SAC honors for the third straight year. The 2009 honorable mention All-American ranks third on the team with 2.69 kills per set, while ranking ninth in the SAC with a .270 hitting percentage. She has had double-digit kills in seven matches this season. Billo had 14 kills and no errors in 17 swings against Lenoir-Rhyne University, good for an .824 hitting percentage which is the second highest percentage in SAC history with at least 14 attacks. She had 16 kills and 15 digs in the 3-1 win over Catawba College. Billo notched 12 kills and 10 digs in the victory over Tusculum, while hitting .312.
Willis earns All-SAC accolades for the third consecutive season. She has handed out a team-best 6.94 assists per set this season. Willis is also averaging 2.59 digs per set. She is second on the team with seven double-doubles this season. Willis had 27 assists and 16 digs in the win over defending regional champion Flagler College. She had 27 assists and 18 digs in the 3-1 victory over Catawba. Willis had 22 assists and 17 digs in the Tusculum win. She piled up 50 assists and 11 digs in the victory at Newberry College, while finishing the regular season with 38 assists and eight digs at Anderson. Willis is parting of a setting duo that has helped Wingate lead the SAC and rank fourth nationally in kills per set and assists per set.
McGowan is second on the team with 2.93 kills per set and third with 2.64 digs per set. She ranks ninth in the league in kills. McGowan has notched double-digit kills 10 times this season. She had 14 kills, seven digs and a .364 hitting percentage in the Flagler victory. She hit .417 with 13 kills in the sweep over Winston-Salem State University. McGowan had 13 kills and 14 digs at Lincoln Memorial University. She had 16 kills and 14 digs in the Tusculum victory. McGowan notched her fourth double-double of the year with 12 kills and 13 digs in the win at Newberry.
Hilton is fourth on the team with 2.33 kills per set, while ranking third in the league with a .344 hitting percentage. She is second on the team with 0.64 blocks per set, while leading the way with 11 solo blocks. Hilton had 17 kills, eight digs and a .625 hitting percentage in the sweep over Coker College. She hit .417 with 12 kills at Mars Hill College, followed by an 11-kill performance against Tusculum while hitting .588. Hilton had 10 kills and a .444 hitting percentage in the sweep over Newberry. She hit .562 with 10 kills in the sweep at Carson-Newman College. Hilton capped her regular season with 12 kills and a .556 hitting percentage in the sweep over Lenoir-Rhyne.
“Lauren and Liz have had strong seasons; it is great for them to get recognized,” Collier says. “There are a number of very strong freshmen across the conference, so to have Cory and Anna recognized is great for them and for our program. We played many players and several line-ups all season, so aside from Stormi, who was awesome every match, we had various players lead us at different times.”
Collier is the first coach in SAC history to earn Coach of the Year honors four consecutive seasons. He led the Bulldogs to their fifth straight regular season SAC title, while Wingate went undefeated in SAC play for the fourth straight season. He has led the ‘Dogs to a league-record 64-match conference winning streak. The Bulldogs are 25-1 overall this season, leading the nation with a .961 winning percentage. Wingate is 125-7 overall since the start of the 2007 season, good for a .947 winning percentage which leads the NCAA Division II during this time span. The Bulldogs are the only team to rank in the top three in winning percentage in each of the last four seasons.
The Bulldogs are the number one seed in this week’s Food Lion SAC tournament, earning the top seed for the fifth consecutive season. Wingate has won four straight Food Lion SAC tournament titles; they have won five of the last seven overall. The Bulldogs are 18-2 in the SAC tournament since 2003. Wingate will take on the eighth-seeded Wolves of Newberry Friday at 12 noon. All matches this weekend will take place at Catawba College in Salisbury, N.C.
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