Wingate's Season Ends in Southeast Regional Final Match

Courtesy of Wingate Athletics Media Relations

St. Augustine, Fla.----The second-seeded Wingate University Bulldogs had their season come to an end Saturday night, falling 3-0 against top-seeded Flagler College in the NCAA Southeast Regional title match. Flagler won by scores of 25-17, 25-9 and 25-23 to improve to 27-3 overall, advancing to the NCAA Elite Eight. Wingate ends its season at 27-4.

"As we close out our season tonight we certainly have some strong mixed emotions," head coach Shelton Collier says. "We are proud of our team for advancing to the regional title match, however, coming up short of achieving our goal of winning the regional championship and going to the Elite Eight is very disappointing for this team. We have a talented team, a special group of players with some awesome attitudes and some individual players who had incredible season. We really wanted to earn the opportunity to move onto the Elite Eight and extend our season together. We knew at the beginning of the season that we were one of a handful of teams with a realistic chance to win this tournament, but we just did not have enough tonight."

Sara Davis hit .364 with 10 kills to lead the Flagler offense. Taja Valmyr added 10 kills, four digs and two aces, while Karlie Redfern contributed eight kills and 10 digs. Tara Savisky collected 27 assists and seven digs, while Kayla Norelli picked up 14 digs.

Senior outside hitter Katie Bludau (Seabrook, Texas) had nine kills to lead the Wingate offense, adding five digs. Senior Rachael Cecka (Plymouth, Wisc.), along with sophomores Phoebe Havenaar (Naperville, Ill.) and Lynnlee Mather (McDonough, Ga.) contributed four kills apiece. Sophomore setter Rachel Alles (Tinley Park, Ill.) had 17 assists, six digs and three kills, while junior libero Kori Adams (Ayden, N.C.) collected 14 digs.

A Redfern kill capped a 4-0 run that gave Flagler a 7-3 advantage in the first set. A Bludau kill got the 'Dogs within two, but a Savisky kill put the Saints on top 11-5. A Havenaar kill and Cecka ace got Wingate within three, while an Alles kill made it 14-12. Flagler scored the next five points, taking a 19-12 lead on a kill from Redfern. A Havenaar kill got the 'Dogs within five, but a Regan Swift kill made it 24-17, while a Raquel Kulak kill ended the set.

A Valmyr kill and Davis ace gave Flagler an 8-3 lead in set two. A Bludau kill got Wingate within four, but a 4-0 run capped by a Valmyr ace put the Saints on top 13-5. A kill from Hannah Givens (Greensburg, Ky.) got the Bulldogs back within six, but a 6-0 run made it 21-8. A Davis kill and Wingate error made it 24-9, while another Bulldog error ended the frame.

Kills from Alles and Oakley Attaway (Orlando, Fla.) gave Wingate a 9-7 lead in the third set, but a Bulldog error tied it at 11. A kill and a block from Mather put the 'Dogs on top 13-11, but kills from Davis and Valmyr gave the Saints a 14-13 advantage. An Attaway kill put the 'Dogs on top 16-15, but the Saints scored the next five points, taking a 20-15 lead on a kill from Swift. Kills from Havenaar and Mather got Wingate within two at 22-20, while a Bludua kill and Mather block made it 23-22. A Wingate error made it 24-22, but the Bulldogs got back within one on a kill from freshman Anne Abernathy (Knoxville, Tenn.). Flagler claimed the match on a Wingate service error.

Flagler hit .204 on the match, with 33 kills and 12 errors in 103 attacks. The Bulldogs had 29 kills and 27 errors in 106 attacks, hitting a season-low .019. Mather led Wingate with three blocks, while Cecka had the lone ace for the Bulldogs.

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