Wingate’s Stormi Gale Named to Daktronics All-America Volleyball Team

HILLSDALE, Mich. -- The most successful season in the history of Wingate University volleyball added another first Friday afternoon, as junior middle blocker Stormi Gale (Richmond, Texas) was named a Daktronics first team All-American. The South Atlantic Conference and Southeast Region Player of the Year is one of only seven players to earn Daktronics first team honors. Gale was named a third team All-American by the AVCA earlier this week.

"This is by far the most prestigious honor ever awarded to a Wingate volleyball player," head coach Shelton Collier says. "For Stormi to join some of the other top players from the top programs across the nation is extremely impressive. We are very proud of her for bringing national recognition to Wingate volleyball."

Gale is the first volleyball player in SAC history to earn first team All-American honors. In her three years at Wingate, Gale has earned first team All-SAC honors three times, All Region honors twice, All-SAC Tournament honors three times and All-Southeast Region tournament honors twice. In addition, Gale was the MVP of the 2008 Food Lion SAC tournament. She has excelled in the classroom as well, as she has been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All District III first team on two occasions.

Gale led the SAC with 3.81 kills per set and ranked second with a .298 hitting percentage. Her 476 kills in the 2009 season rank second on Wingate's all-time single-season charts, while her 1,205 career kills puts her third on the all-time list. Gale had at least 10 kills 26 times in Wingate's 38 matches, while notching 10 double-doubles on the year. She led the Bulldogs with 94 blocks on the season, while also collecting 43 aces. Gale had at least nine kills in Wingate's last 15 matches.

Gale had 22 kills, 17 digs and four blocks in the 3-1 win at Newberry. She collected a career-high 24 kills along with 14 digs in the win at Lincoln Memorial. Gale had 17 kills with a .645 hitting percentage in the 3-0 win over Pfeiffer. She had 19 kills, 12 digs and six blocks in a five-set win over Carson-Newman, followed by a 21-kill, eight-dig performance against LMU. Gale had 43 kills, 25 digs and 11 blocks in Wingate's three matches in the Southeast Regional Tournament.

The Bulldogs topped the 30-win mark for the third consecutive year, collecting a school-best 36 victories while going 36-2 overall. Wingate also became the first team in South Atlantic Conference history to earn an AVCA top 25 ranking, finishing the season ranked 24th.

Wingate was the top team in the Southeast Region all year, hosting the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional tournament for the second consecutive season. The Bulldogs have won 100 of their last 106 matches dating back to the start of the 2007 season, while also winning 79 of their last 81 regular season matches. Wingate has won 46 consecutive SAC contests, while winning the regular season and Food Lion SAC tournament title four years in a row.

The Daktronics Division II All-America Volleyball Team is sponsored by Daktronics, Inc., an acknowledged world leader in scoring, timing and programmable display systems for virtually every sport at every level of competition. The All-America Volleyball team is selected by the sports information directors at NCAA Division II institutions. The online nomination and voting processes are powered by ATHLETICSITE.COM.

2009 DAKTRONICS ALL-AMERICA FIRST TEAM
S Maggie McNamara Sr. Concorida-St. Paul
OH Pamela Cartagena Sr. Pittsburg State
OH Jane Chafeh Jr. Cal State San Bernardino
OH Melissa Vanderhall Jr. University of Tampa
MH Emily Palkert Jr. Concordia-St. Paul
MH Stormi Gale Jr. Wingate University
L/DS Lauren Flynn Sr. Texas A&M-Commerce

2009 DAKTRONICS ALL-AMERICA SECOND TEAM
S Renata da Silva Sr. California (Pa.)
OH Sadie Kessler Sr. Concordia-St. Paul
OH Joanna Nist Sr. California (Pa.)
OH Tatiana Kuhn Sr. Henderson State
MH Jessica Howard Sr. Augusta State
MH Nikki Scott Sr. Nebraska-Kearney
L/DS Mary Slinger Sr. Concordia-St. Paul

2009 DAKTRONICS ALL-AMERICA THIRD TEAM
S Katie Rickwartz Sr. West Texas A&M
OH Arica Shepard Sr. Emporia State
OH Megan Carlson So. Concordia-St. Paul
OH Mackenzie Snyder So. Chico State
MH Melissa Harper Sr. West Texas A&M
MH Shawna Hines Jr. Abilene Christian
L/DS Bethany Wright Sr. Henderson State

HONORABLE MENTION ALL-AMERICANS
Calli Scott, Alaska-Anchorage
Roxanne Brunsting, UC-San Diego
Ludmila Amaral, California (Pa.)
Fabiane Sebe, Hawaii-Hilo
Manuela Nesheva, Harding
Sara Malmlov, New Haven
Laura Prinsen, West Texas A&M