Wingate, Carson-Newman Advance To Volleyball Tournament Championship

November 10, 2007

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. -- Top-seed Wingate University and seventh-seed and tournament host Carson-Newman College advanced to the finals of the 2007 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Volleyball Tournament Saturday morning.

The two teams advance to the finals, which will be played at 6 p.m. The championship match will be available to watch over the internet at http://easttnsports.com/SAC-Volleyball-Championships2007.html

Wingate 3, Newberry 0

Jefferson City, Tenn. -- The Wingate University Bulldogs beat the Newberry College Indians 3-0 (30-25, 30-25, 30-23) in the semifinals of the South Atlantic Conference Tournament Saturday at Holt Fieldhouse. With the win, Wingate improves to 32-1 on the season, and advances to the championship match tonight at 6 p.m. The Bulldogs have won 23 consecutive matches overall. The Indians fall to 19-9 on the season.

Freshman outside hitter Rebecca Bloemer (Lousiville, Ky.), a first team all-conference selection, led the attack with 14 kills while hitting .321. Fellow freshman Stormi Gale (Richmond, Texas), the SAC Freshman of the Year, added 13 kills, seven block assists and six digs. Fellow first team All-SAC performer Melissa DeLuca (Bahama, N.C.) handed out 41 assists while collecting seven digs. Sophomore libero Chelsea Cancelliere (Richboro, Pa.) had a game-high 15 digs.

Junior outside hitter Priscila Sales (Belo Horizonte, Brazil), a first team all-conference selection, led the Newberry offense with a game-high 16 kills. Junior Fernanda Frey (Sao Paulo, Brazil) added nine kills and a team-high 12 digs for the Indians. Senior Laurie Barman (Madison, Wisc.) chipped in with eight kills. Freshman setter Brianna Blakely (Houston, Texas) handed out 35 assists.

The first game stayed tight throughout, with Wingate finally getting a comfortable margin at 23-14, thanks to an 8-1 run. Gale had two kills in the stretch. Gale and Reddick each added a kill to keep the margin. Two Wingate attack errors and a kill from Sales cut the lead to 29-25. Bloemer finished off the first game with a kill. The Bulldogs hit .184 in the first game, Newberry hit .130.

Game two also started tight, Wingate stretched the lead to five at 14-9 on a kill from DeLuca. Kills from Sales and Blakely cut into the deficit, but Gale answered with a kill to regain the five point lead. A kill from Sales and Cara Coleman (Allentown, Pa.) cut the Wingate lead to two. The game would stay tight, an ace from Gale gave the Bulldogs a 24-20 lead. Lauren Billo (Orland Park, Ill.) added a kill to give Wingate a five point lead. Kills from Lorena Maia (Belo Horizonte, Brazil), Frey and Barman cut the lead to 28-25. Bloemer answered with a kill, the Bulldogs then won the game on a block from Gale and DeLuca. Wingate hit .190 in the second game, Newberry hit .188.

Wingate built a five point lead in the third game at 19-11, getting kills from Gale and Kathryn Reddick (Franklinton, N.C.) along with an ace from Gale. Newberry cut the lead to four at 20-16, taking advantage of three Wingate attack errors. The Indians got close again at 23-20 on a kill from Barman. Wingate responded with a kill from Gale, then a block from Gale and Rachelle Rostas (Charlotte, N.C.) and another block from Gale and Reddick. The lead would stay over five the rest of the way, Bloemer finished off the match with a kill. Wingate hit .227 in the final game, Newberry hit .095.

For the match, the Bulldogs hit .200 (48 kills, 21 errors, 135 attempts). The Indians hit .140 on the match (43 kills, 24 errors, 136 attempts). Wingate had 12 blocks, with Gale leading the way with seven block assists. Rostas had six block assists and one solo block. Reddick and Bloemer had three block assists apiece. Newberry had nine total blocks, with Sales and Coleman getting three block assists each. Frey had two solo blocks for the Indians.

"We have worked really hard all year to be in this position." Said head coach Shelton Collier. "We have a chance to win the championship match and win the SAC title. We really played solid today, with a lot of composure. I believe we will be ready for the finals, and our players are looking forward to playing."

Wingate will take on the seventh seeded Eagles of Carson-Newman in the championship match at 6 p.m. The Eagles upset the No. 2 seed Tusculum Friday 3-0. They won a five-game thriller over No. 3 seed Catawba Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs swept Carson-Newman in both regular season meetings.

Wingate def. Newberry 30-25,30-25,30-23

Newberry (19-9) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Priscila Sales 16-0-3; Fernanda
Frey 9-0-2; Laurie Barman 8-0-3; Lorena Maia 5-0-1; Cara Coleman
3-0-4; Brianna Blakely 1-0-1; Kara Harris 1-0-0; Totals 43-0-9.0.
(Assists) - Brianna Blakely 35. (Dig leaders) - Fernanda Frey 12;
Christy Stegall 11; Kara Harris 8

Wingate (32-1) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Rebecca Bloemer 14-0-3; Stormi
Gale 13-3-7; Kathryn Reddick 8-0-4; Lauren Billo 4-0-0; Rachelle
Rostas 4-0-7; Melissa DeLuca 3-0-1; Heather Myklebust 2-0-0; Brittany
Horner 0-1-0; Totals 48-4-12.0. (Assists) - Melissa DeLuca 41. (Dig
leaders) - Chelsea Cancelliere 15; Melissa DeLuca 7

Carson-Newman 3, Catawba 2

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn.-- Kelsey Fleck notched 20 kills as Carson-Newman rallied from a 2-1 deficit to defeat third-seed Catawba to advance to the 2007 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Championship match.

The Eagles (23-10) opened the match by claiming the first 11 points en route to a 30-16 win. The Eagles hit .379 for that game, but failed to hit the .100 hitting percentage mark in games two and three as the Indians claimed a two games to one advantage.

C-N collected 25 kills over the next two games, hitting .352 for the match. Katie Troyer and Kelli Sorensen reached the double-figure plateau for kills with 14 and 11, respectively. Stephanie Cutter added 34 assists while Allyson Corhn contributed 17. Cutter anchored the Eagle defense with 21 digs while Salem Stepp and Sorensen combined for 28 digs. Stepp had 16 while Sorensen added 12. Nikki James continued her consistent play with three blocks, including consecutive putbacks in game four.

For the Indians, Melissa Powers had 21 kills while Melissa Griffith added 13. Andi Henderson's 51 assists paced the Catawba offense while Nikki Bozick and Griffith added 12 digs apiece. Mai Zoua Lo had nine digs while Powers added three blocks.

The Eagles will take on top seed Wingate in the SAC Tournament. Game time is set for 6:00 p.m. in Holt Fieldhouse.

Catawba vs Carson-Newman (Nov 10, 2007 at Jefferson City, TN)

Catawba | ATTACK |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN
## Name GP| K E TA PCT| A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Katie Moran......... 5| 4 3 14 .071| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 2 0| 0
3 Melissa Griffith.... 5| 13 4 37 .243| 0| 0 0| 3| 12| 0 1 0| 1
7 Lindsey Spears...... 5| 7 4 25 .120| 0| 0 0| 0| 1| 1 3 0| 1
8 Kalin Collier....... 2| 1 2 7 -.143| 0| 0 0| 1| 1| 0 0 0| 0
11 Melissa Powers...... 5| 21 4 57 .298| 0| 1 2| 0| 2| 3 3 1| 0
22 Andi Henderson...... 5| 0 1 4 -.250| 51| 0 4| 0| 10| 0 1 0| 5
4 Lainey Edwards...... 1| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 1| 0 0 0| 0
9 Jasmine Chunn....... 1| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 1| 0 0 0| 0
10 Jessica Cleary...... 5| 0 0 1 .000| 0| 1 2| 0| 5| 0 0 0| 0
12 Mai Zoua Lo......... 5| 7 4 31 .097| 0| 1 1| 2| 9| 0 0 0| 0
24 Nikki Bozick........ 5| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 2 3| 0| 12| 0 0 0| 0
TEAM................ | | | | 3| | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals.............. 5| 53 22 176 .176| 51| 5 12| 9| 54| 4 10 1| 7

TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 9.0
Game K E TA Pct
1 8 7 38 .026 GAME SCORES 1 2 3 4 5 TEAM RECORDS
2 14 5 40 .225 Catawba............. 16 30 30 22 12 1-1
3 16 2 31 .452 Carson-Newman....... 30 23 20 30 15 2-0
4 10 7 48 .062
5 5 1 19 .211

Carson-Newman | ATTACK |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN
## Name GP| K E TA PCT| A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 Kelli Sorensen...... 5| 11 7 32 .125| 1| 0 2| 0| 12| 0 1 0| 0
9 Stephanie Cutter.... 5| 2 1 7 .143| 34| 1 1| 0| 21| 0 0 0| 7
14 Katie Troyer........ 5| 14 4 25 .400| 1| 2 3| 1| 3| 2 4 0| 0
15 Kelsey Fleck........ 5| 20 6 50 .280| 1| 0 0| 0| 6| 0 1 0| 0
17 Nikki James......... 5| 3 2 11 .091| 1| 0 0| 0| 0| 3 0 2| 0
21 Carly Mozgai........ 5| 6 6 21 .000| 0| 4 3| 0| 3| 0 0 0| 1
1 Salem Stepp......... 5| 0 0 2 .000| 1| 0 2| 0| 16| 0 0 0| 0
7 Lara McDonald....... 1| 0 0 1 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
8 Caitlin Schlegel.... 2| 4 2 7 .286| 1| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
11 Allyson Corhn....... 5| 0 0 1 .000| 17| 1 0| 0| 6| 0 0 0| 2
13 Haley Bush.......... 5| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 1 0| 0| 4| 0 0 0| 0
23 Vanessa Kinsler..... 3| 4 1 10 .300| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 1 2 0| 0
TEAM................ | | | | 4| | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals.............. 5| 64 29 167 .210| 57| 9 11| 5| 71| 6 8 2| 10

TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 10.0
Game K E TA Pct
1 13 2 29 .379 Site: Jefferson City, TN (Holt Fieldhouse)
2 13 9 42 .095 Date: Nov 10, 2007 Attend: 125 Time: 2:10
3 13 10 36 .083 Referees:
4 13 4 37 .243
5 12 4 23 .348