Wingate, Catawba, Carson-Newman, Lincoln Memorial Advance To Semifinals Of Food Lion SAC Volleyball Tournament

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. -- The top four seeds were all winners in the quarterfinals of the 2009 Food Lion SAC Volleyball Tournament on Friday.

Saturday's semifinals will have top-seed Wingate facing fourth-seed Catawba at 2:30 p.m. in one semifinal. The other semifinal match will have No. 2 seed Carson-Newman facing No. 3 seed Lincoln Memorial University at 5 p.m.

The tournament is being played at Pioneer Arena on the campus of Tusculum College.

No. 1 Wingate 3, No. 8 Brevard 0

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. -- Wingate University's Lauren Billo recorded 18 kills, and Liz Willis turned in a double-double with 25 assists and 14 digs to pace the top-seeded Bulldogs to a 3-0 win over eighth-seeded Brevard College in the quarterfinal round of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament at Pioneer Arena.

The Bulldogs (32-1) hit .282 in the match, highlighted by a .417 clip in the second set, while limiting the Tornados (15-15) to a .090 attacking percentage.

Billo's turned in match-highs of 18 kills and a .472 attack percentage, as Willis and Maggie Malone paced the Bulldogs with 14 and 10 digs, respectively. SAC Player of the Year Stormi Gale recorded nine kills for Wingate on the afternoon.

Brevard's Bethany Stevenson turned in a double-double with 23 assists and 11 digs, while Brooke Seaman paced the Tornados with eight kills. Jamie Atkinson and Megan Street posted kill totals of five and four, respectively.

Wingate scored eight of the first ten points in the opening set to take an early 8-2 lead, before Brevard closed the gap to 11-7 with a quick 5-3 spurt. The Bulldogs stretched the lead to 16-8 with a 5-1 run, and after Brevard cut the margin to 21-17 with a 9-5 spurt, Wingate took control and closed out the 25-19 first-set win with a 4-2 surge.

The Bulldogs opened the second set with a quick 4-1 spurt, and after Brevard closed the gap to 5-4, Wingate surged to a 17-9 lead with a 12-5 run which was capped by a kill from Billo. Wingate closed out the set with an 8-5 edge over the final leg of the frame to take a 2-0 advantage in the match with a 25-14 second-set win.

Wingate took command of the third set with an opening 7-2 run that featured a pair of services aces by Gale. The Tornados cut the margin to 8-5 with a quick 3-1 spurt before Wingate regained control and stretch the lead to 16-8 with an 8-3 surge. Wingate then closed out the three-set sweep with a 9-7 margin over the final stretch to take the third frame by a score of 25-15.

With the win, Wingate advances to the semifinal round and will face Catawba at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.

No. 2 Carson-Newman 3, No. 7 Lenoir-Rhyne 1

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. - The second-seeded Carson-Newman College volleyball team (21-8) took advantage of 13 team blocks as it defeated No. 7 Lenoir-Rhyne University (19-15), 3-1 (25-16, 25-18, 27-29, 25-18), Friday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the 2009 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament.

With the victory, the Lady Eagles advance to take on the winner of the Newberry-Lincoln Memorial match on Saturday at 5:00 p.m.

Down 7-5 in the first set, Carson-Newman scored five of the next six points to take an 11-7 lead. A five-point serving run by freshman libero Angelle Hayes (Brentwood, Tenn.) put the Lady Eagles up, 20-12, as they held on for the win. C-N boasted a .364 (14-2-33) hitting percentage in the first set compared to just .026 (10-9-39) for L-R.

Carson-Newman jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the second frame but the Bears would rally to tie it at six points apiece. Later in the set, the Lady Eagles went on a 9-3 run for their largest lead of the stanza at 20-12.

The third set saw Lenoir-Rhyne claw its way back into the match. The Bears tied the set at six, and led all the way until the Lady Eagles tied it at 16-all. Carson-Newman had match point with the score 24-22, but L-R scored three straight points to give themselves the advantage. C-N tied it up at 25, 26, and actually led 27-26, however the Bears prevailed as sophomore outside hitter Lindsey Cantu (Orlando, Fla.) registered two straight service aces to close the set.

Carson-Newman put the match away in the fourth period. The Lady Eagles led 4-0 out of the gate before extending their lead to six points (9-3). C-N held their comfortable lead for most of the set and with the win looming at 23-18, registered the final two points of the match for the win.

Carson-Newman was led offensively by senior middle Katie Troyer (Plain City, Ohio) as she posted 14 kills and added three blocks while senior outside hitter Jessica Schachleiter (Cincinnati, Ohio) posted a double-double with 11 kills and 17 digs. Sophomore right side hitter Nikki James (Cookeville, Tenn.) led all players with eight blocks and added five kills and while freshman middle Jasmine Clark (Pelham, Ala.) had nine kills as well.

Senior Stephanie Cutter (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) and junior Lara McDonald (Salem, Va.) split the setting duties for the Lady Eagles as they dished out 24 and 15 assists, respectively. Freshmen MacKenzie Tyree (Daleville, Va.) and Hayes had 17 and 16 digs, respectively, as well for the Lady Eagles.

Lenoir-Rhyne was paced by Cantu with 11 kills and sophomore middle blocker Chelsea Hill (Lexington, N.C.) with 10 kills as well. Seniors Kassi Henry (Denver, N.C.) and Jordan Ledford (Newton, N.C.) had eight kills each in the final match of their career as Bears. Freshman setter Meredith Lutz (Newton, N.C.) registered a double-double with a match-high 40 assists and 12 digs while senior defensive specialist Elizabeth Flattery (Sparta, N.C.) tie da match high with 17 digs.

No. 3 Lincoln Memorial University 3, No. 6 Newberry 2

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. -- Lauren Kiwacka recorded a triple-double with 15 kills, 27 assists and 27 digs to lead third-seeded Lincoln Memorial University to a five-set win over No. 6 Newberry College in a quarterfinal match of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Volleyball Tournament. The three-day, single-elimination tournament is being held at Pioneer Arena on the campus of Tusculum College.

The Lady Railsplitters (22-8) won the match by scores of 25-15, 24-26, 18-25, 25-23, 15-8. With the victory, LMU advances to Saturday's semifinal and will face second-seeded Carson-Newman College at 5 p.m.

LMU's Amanda Horenkamp accounted for 12 kills and 22 digs, while Ashley Knight finished with 15 kills in the victory.

Newberry (18-16) was paced by Kember Lichtie, who accounted for 14 kills and 16 digs, while teammate Lorena Maia added 13 kills, 17 digs and three service aces.

In the opening set, LMU posted a .232 team hitting percentage and used a 14-7 run to win the first frame 25-15.

But the next three sets would be epic battles. The score was tied for a combined 30 times over the three-set span, including an amazing 21 lead changes.

In the second set, Newberry rallied from a 7-1 deficit and used an 11-5 spurt to tie the frame at 12-12. The Scarlet and Gray would take its first lead of the frame on a kill by Blair Browning to go ahead 17-16. LMU would lead 23-22 after a service ace by Kiwacka, but Newberry closed out the set with a 4-1 run, including a pair of kills by Kara Harris for a 26-24 win.

Newberry used a 12-3 run to close out the third set to claim a 25-18 win. Harris accounted for six straight points during that spurt, including kills by Nadia Andrade and Fernanda Frey.

Facing elimination, LMU bounced back in the fourth set, claiming a 25-23 win to tie the match at 2-2. The Lady Railsplitters used a 5-1 run to move out to a 17-12 advantage, following a kill by Kiwacka. Newberry answered with 10-5 surge that tied the frame at 22-22 thanks to a LMU attack error and a kills from Maia and Harris. Newberry took a brief lead at 23-22 thanks to Maia service ace, but LMU answered with three straight points, including a kill and a block assist from Kiwacka for the final two points.

In the fifth set, Lincoln Memorial opened with a 7-1 run, including four points by Brittany Pugh as the Railsplitters went wire-to-wire in the closing frame to win 15-8 and send LMU to the semifinal. In the set, LMU posted a sizzling .429 hitting percentage (10-1-21), while limiting Newberry to a .120 attack percentage (7-4-25).

Each team recorded over 100 digs in the contest (LMU 107, Newberry 104). LMU's Alicia MacIntyre led the way for the Railsplitters with 29 digs, while Newberry's Brianna Blakely finished with a match-high 30 digs.

Pugh dished out 28 assists and five digs for LMU, while Newberry setter Blair Browning accounted for 53 assists and eight digs.

No. 4 Catawba 3, No. 5 Tusculum 0

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. -- Three Catawba Indians reached double figures in kills and Jordan Raye notched a double-double with 11 kills and 26 assists to lead fourth-seeded Catawba College at a 3-0 win over fifth-seeded Tusculum College in the quarterfinal round of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament at Pioneer Arena.

Catawba (17-10) posted a .252 attack percentage on the afternoon while holding the Pioneers (18-14) to a .092 clip in the match. The Catawba Indians also edged the Pioneers at the net, six blocks to four.

Shay Meeks tallied a match-high 13 kills for the Catawba Indians, as Kaitlyn Whitmer and Raye chipped in 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Raye also led the way for Catawba with 26 assists as Mai Zoua Lo added 23 digs.

Tusculum senior Gina Coffaro turned in a double-double with 12 kills and 13 digs while Peyton Colclough recorded a double-double of her own with a match-high 28 assists and 13 digs. Sam Underwood chipped in with seven kills and 12 digs, followed by Alyssa Raterman's total of six kills.

Catawba opened the first set with a 4-2 run before the Pioneers launched a quick 5-0 spurt to take an early 7-4 advantage. The Catawba Indians closed the gap to 8-7 before going on a 9-7 spurt to reclaim the set advantage at 16-15. Catawba then pulled ahead with a 6-4 spurt to take a 22-19 lead, and after Tusculum rallied to tie the set first at 22-22 and again at 24-24, closed out the 26-24 first-frame win on a service ace by Taylor Doss.

The second set was tightly contested with neither team taking more than a two-point lead, until Catawba opened a 12-9 advantage before the Pioneers quickly closed the gap with a 3-0 spurt to tie the frame at 12-12. Catawba reclaimed the lead with a 5-2 spurt to open a 17-14 before Tusculum closed the gap to 17-16 with a pair of quick points; the Catawba Indians then launched an 8-3 run to notch a 25-19 second-set win.

Catawba lead the third set from start to finish, opening the frame with a 9-4 run before launching a 7-1 surge to take a commanding 16-5 advantage. The Catawba Indians then closed out the three-set sweep with a 9-4 run to claim the third frame by a 25-9 score.

With the win, Catawba advances to the semifinal round to take on top-seeded Wingate University at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. Tusculum ends its season with an 18-14 overall record.