Nov. 10, 2007

Final Stats

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn.-- Stormi Gale collected 13 kills as Wingate defeated Carson-Newman, 3-0 (30-27, 30-25, 30-17) to claim the 2007 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament championship at Holt Fieldhouse.

The Eagles (23-11) hung tough with the Bulldogs (33-1) in the first game, hitting .429 in the first set, but Wingate rallied to take a 30-27 victory.

Both teams struggled in the second game, but Wingate persevered to earn a 30-25 victory to take a two games to none advantage.

The third game was all Wingate as the Bulldogs hit .208 and held Carson-Newman to a .017 hitting percentage. Rebecca Bloemer added 10 kills in the match for Wingate while Heather Myklebust had eight kills. Melissa DeLuca collected 38 assists while Gale and Chelsea Cancelliere had 12 digs apiece.

For the Eagles, Katie Troyer and Kelsey Fleck led the team with 11 kills each while Kelli Sorensen added seven kills. Stephanie Cutter led the Eagles with 21 assists while Salem Stepp led all players with 20 digs with Nikki James leading all players with four blocks.

With the victory, Wingate earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Divsion II volleyball tournament. Fleck and Troyer were named to the All-Tournament team along with Wingate's Gale and Rebecca Bloemer. Newberry's Laurie Barman and Catawba's Melissa Powers round out the All-Tournament team.

"I couldn't be more proud of our team this weekend," said head coach Shannon Mincey. "We didn't finish out as well as we wanted in the conference but pressed on our team unity and coming together to overcome playing three very tough teams in our conference this weekend. Our fans stepped up to show their support of our team and we are so appreciative of that! Wingate has had an amazing year only having one loss on their season. They are consistent and keep the offense moving. I enjoyed coaching against Coach Collier in the finals. Our team wishes their team the best in representing our conference in the regional tournament this week."