Wingate Wins Seventh-Straight SAC Championship Title in Five-Set Thriller over Tusculum

BREVARD, N.C. – Wingate continued its reign over SAC volleyball on Sunday, capturing its seventh-straight Food Lion SAC Volleyball Championship title in a thrilling five-set match over Tusculum. Scores went 26-24, 21-25, 25-14, 23-25 and 15-12 in the deciding fifth.

The victory earns the Bulldogs an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Volleyball Championship, which they will enter winners of 20-straight matches. Tusculum was just the second team during the streak to take WU to five sets.

Sunday's title caps a dominant run by Wingate after the Bulldogs opened their season 1-2 in SAC play and saw their historic streak of 83-straight league victories come to an end. WU improved to 29-2 with the win, while Tusculum fell to 22-7.

The match opened with a back-and-forth first set, with neither team building more than a three-point cushion. Wingate eventually took the set 26-24 to open a 1-0 lead. Tusculum answered, however, winning the second set 25-21 to even the contest.

WU was dominant in a 25-14 third-set victory and appeared poised to clinch the match by opening up an 18-11 lead in the fourth, but the Pioneers battled back to win the set 25-23, forcing a winner-take-all fifth.

Just like in the match's first set, the fifth was a tight battle, featuring eight ties. Wingate pulled away late, however, winning the set's final three points to clinch the title.

WU's Shelly Stumpff -- the 2012 SAC Freshman of the Year -- was key in the fifth set, recording four kills, She finished with a match-high 22 kills to go along with 20 digs, earning All-Tournament Team honors.

Wingate's Anna Hilton was named the Championship's Most Valuable Player after piling up 14 kills, 37 digs, three assists and two blocks against TC. She becomes the third-straight WU player to win both the SAC Player of the Year and SAC Championship MVP awards in the same season, joining former Bulldogs Liz Willis in 2011 and Stormi Gale in 2010.

Accompanying Stumpff and Hilton on the All-Tournament Team from WU was Stephanie Tassone, who had 17 digs on Sunday. Alison Cooke also had a huge day for WU, recording 66 assists.

Tusculum was led by Danae Stauffer's 16 kills and Meghan Hasse's double-double of 15 kills and 15 digs. Ashley Sarmiento also had a double-double for the Pioneers, finishing with 24 assists and 10 digs. TC's Caitlyn Dean recorded a match-high 48 digs.

Hasse and Dean were both named to the All-Tournament Team, as were Newberry's Blair Browning and Lincoln Memorial's Blaire Fowler.

As a team, Wingate hit .272 on Sunday, while Tusculum hit .161.

Tusculum and the rest of the conference will learn its postseason fate on Sunday night, as the 2012 NCAA Division II Volleyball Championship field will be announced on a live NCAA.com selection show at 10 p.m.