Wingate Wins 16th SAC Tournament Title in Program History

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – For the 16^th time in program history, the Wingate Volleyball team captured the SAC Tournament Championship. The top-seeded Bulldogs took down the No. 2 seed Lenoir-Rhyne Bears 3-0 at the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center on Friday night. Wingate didn't lose a set during the entire tournament, sweeping UVA Wise, Mars Hill and then LR.

A back-and-forth first set went Wingate's way. The Bulldogs hit .185 in the frame and had four blocks to just one for LR. Wingate led 20-19 before scoring five of the final six points in the frame.

The Bulldogs dominated the second set en route to a 25-12 victory. Wingate held a .389 to .059 advantage in hitting percentage and an 18-6 edge in kills.

Wingate trailed 19-17 in the third set before a timeout by the Bulldogs. Another late push by WU would seal the deal as they rattled off eight of the final 10 points to claim the 25-21 win and earn the title.

Sydney Morland, who would be crowned tournament MVP, had a team-high 10 kills and hit .450 on the match to go with six blocks. Gabby Saye added eight kills and Maya Van Heyst had six kills, 17 assists and 11 digs.

LR was led by 10 kills from Brooke Aeschliman and Kayli Cleaver.

Wingate solidified their case for the No. 1 seed as both teams will find out their NCAA Tournament fate on Monday as the bracket is announced on NCAA.com at 7:30 p.m.

All-Tournament Team

Laela Jimenez, Mars Hill
Libby Nieporte, Anderson
Brooke Aeschliman, Lenoir-Rhyne
Kayli Cleaver, Lenoir-Rhyne
Emily Johnson, Wingate
Maddie Hoffman, Wingate
Sydney Morland, Wingate, MVP