ROCK HILL – The Newberry College Wolves will be the eighth seed in this weekend’s South Atlantic Conference volleyball tournament, which kicks off Friday afternoon. The Wolves will face the 12th ranked Wingate Bulldogs in the first match of the tournament which will begin at noon. This year the tournament will be held in Hickory, N.C., on the campus of Lenoir-Rhyne University in Shuford Memorial Gymnasium. Newberry enters the tournament carrying a 15-15 overall record after going 9-13 in conference play.

The Wolves will face stiff competition against one of the nation’s top programs, as the Bulldogs have won 24 straight SAC tournament matches. WU has taken home eight titles, collected the regular season title nine straight seasons and advanced to the tournament finals each of those nine years. Wingate finished the regular season 28-2 and 21-1 in South Atlantic Conference play. Their only two losses on the year came to 20th-ranked Armstrong State and second place SAC finisher Carson-Newman.

This will be the second straight year the Wolves and Bulldogs have met in the SAC tournament quarterfinals and the third time in five years for the matchup. Wingate has owned the Wolves dating back to 1997, winning all 43 decisions including the six neutral site matchups, all in postseason play. Last year the Bulldogs blanked the Wolves 3-0 in both regular season matches, but this year that has not been the case.

In their first meeting of the year Wingate took a 3-1 decision, dominating the first and third sets but the Wolves gave the Bulldogs a fight, taking only the fifth set they had given up the entire season to that point. Newberry took the second set handily 25-16 and made a run in the fourth frame, but came up just short at 25-22. In the second meeting in Wingate, N.C., the Wolves gave the Bulldogs a scare, forcing them into only their second five set match of the season. Wingate took the first frame 25-12, but Newberry came storming back to scrap out 25-22 and 28-26 victories in the third and fourth sets. However, Wingate emerged victorious despite the valiant effort displayed by the Wolves as the Bulldogs took 25-10 and 15-10 decisions to wrap up the match.

Last year in the South Atlantic Conference Quarterfinals the Wolves were able to take a set off of the Bulldogs, which helped boost them into the NCAA tournament for the third straight year. This season will not be any different, as all teams in the SAC tournament are fighting for NCAA berths. As of November 5, the SAC has five teams regionally ranked with Wingate (2), Lenoir-Rhyne (5), Carson-Newman (6), Anderson (7) and Tusculum (9).

This season Newberry got off to a fantastic start, going 3-1 in both the Inagural Newberry Invitational and USC Aiken Invitational. However, the Wolves took a slid, dropping four straight conference matchups to start of the South Atlantic Conference schedule. They picked up their first win against Coker on September 26th and picked up two of the next three. The squad picked up big wins against Brevard and on the road at Tusculum at the half way point of the season. They went on to win four of the last seven matches, but it was a little too late as the final record stood at 9-13 in conference action. The Wolves came up just short on multiple occasions, but five set matches did not fall in their favor. Newberry went 1-8 in five set contests this season, but went a combined 14-7 in three and four setters.

Despite the lopsided record, the Wolves had a fantastic season statistically, ranking in the top eight in every statistical category. The Wolves ranked third in kills, but also ranked third in attack errors and assists. They were sixth in the league in both kills per set (11.72) and assists per set (10.92). The team averaged a fifth best 1.50 service aces per set while totaling 179 aces to rank fourth, however, they also ranked fourth in service errors. Newberry rarely got outblocked, as they led the conference in total blcoks (246) and blcoks assists (375). Their 58 solo stonewalls was good enough for second while the average of 2.06 was third. The defensive effort was also great as the squad racked up 2,054 digs and 17.26 digs per set which were second and fifth, respectively.

The team also ranked nationally in NCAA Division II in six categories. Their 2,054 digs ranked 17th while the 4,310 total attacks was 18th. The held the opposition to a .143 hitting percentage, the 37th lowest opponent hitting clip in the league. The 245.5 total blocks was 21st and 1300 assists and 1395 kills ranked 48th and 49th in the nation, respectively.

Wingate ranks at the top of conference in nearly every statistical category, leading the SAC in kills per set (14.13), hitting percentage (.278), assists per set (13.18), service aces (225), service aces per set (2.21) and point per set (18.2). They rank second in kills (1441), assists (1344) and points (1852). The Bulldogs have amassed these numbers while only playing 102 sets this season, 11th out of the 12 South Atlantic Conference teams. They have been extremely efficient throughout the season, finishing at the bottom of the league in attack errors (11th), reception errors (12th) and block errors (11th).

The Bulldogs are not only ranked in the AVCA poll but are recognized for their statistics as well. They are fifth in the nation in hitting percentage, eigth in service aces, 12th in opponent hitting percentage and 15th in kills per set. Wingate also sports the third highest winning percentage in the country.

Key Players:

Newberry
All-South Atlantic Conference Honorable Mention selections Jessica King and Logan Hayward will lead the Wolves offensive attack. Hayward led the team in kills with 275 and kills per set with an average of 2.35 per set. She also totaled 160 digs and pitched in on 39 blocks. King has been a multi-point threat this season, ranking seventh in the conference and leading Newberry with a .283 hitting percentage to go along with 233 kills. She has also been a stone wall on defense, ranking in the top six in the SAC in each blocking category. Her 107 block assists leads the league, while her 123 total blocks and 1.03 block per set average are good for second and her 16 solo blocks places sixth. The 123 total blocks also places her atop the country, as she sits tied for 16th.

Amanda Soper capped off her career her final year by totaling 245 kills and 2.23 kills per set, both ranking second on the team. She also contributed 134 digs and chipped in 77 blocks. Holly Brisson has also been effective from the right side position, contributing 188 kills and 58 blocks. Lauren Prachar finished off her senior campaign with 137 kills and 26 service aces but has been most effective on the defensive side of the court, totaling 360 digs and 3.33 digs per set which both rank second on the team and 11th and 13th in the conference, respectively.

Rachel Moran will run the offense for Newberry, compiling 665 assists (5.88 per set) she leads the team in both categories. Moran has also been the service expert for the Wolves this year, racking up 51 service aces which ranks 4th in the conference and is tied for 30th in country. The Wolves libero, Elayni Stokes, has led defensive effort with a conference high 598 digs which is 16th most in NCAA Division II. She averages 5.03 digs per set which also ranks fourth in the conference and 50th nationally.

Wingate
The Bulldogs are led by redshirt senior setter Alison Cooke. The All-SAC first team selection is second in the conference with 10.39 assists per set while picking up 225 digs (2.50 per set). She ranks fifth in the SAC with 935 assists while totaling 21 service aces and 69 kills. Cooke’s go to target is fellow All-SAC first teamer Shelly Stumpff, the junior outside hitter from Iowa City, Iowa. Stumpff finished the year with 308 kills and averaged 3.35 kills per set, placing ninth and fourth in the SAC, respectively. She led the conference with 58 service aces and an average of 0.63 aces per set. She places fifth nationally with her aces per set average and in tied for 11th in the country in service aces. Fellow outside attacker and second team All-SAC selection Susie Murach piled up 226 kills for an average of 2.63 per set while hitting at a .252 clip for the year. Freshman Katie Bludau was tabbed an All-Freshman team selecton after totaling 130 kills, averaging 1.59 per set with a .276 percentage to go with 25 service aces, 65 digs and 16 total blocks in 82 sets played.

Wingate has relied on its outside hitters this season, but their middles are the most dangerous part of their offensive attack. Senior Lexi Potter was named a first team All-SAC selection for the third season in a row after compiling 2.54 kills per set (221 kills) with a blistering .382 hitting percentage that ranked third in the conference and 16th nationally. Potter’s counterpart, sophomore Abby Saehler, has been just as explosive, putting down 219 kills (2.43 per set) while blasting a .379 hitting clip that ranks fourth in the SAC and 18th in the nation. She also ranks in the top-five in the conference for block assists (5th), total blocks (5th) and blocks per set (3rd). Saehler was labeled a second team All-SAC performer this season after being named to the All-Freshmen team a year ago.

The Bulldogs’ defensive effort has been led by freshmen libero Kori Adams. The honorable mention All-SAC libero picked up 348 digs for an average of 3.41 digs per set this season while adding 30 service aces, which ranked 13th in the SAC, to her resume.

The 2014 South Atlantic Conference Championship Volleyball Tournament will begin with the Wolves, Bulldogs matchup at noon followed by fourth seeded Tusculum and fifth seeded host Lenoir-Rhyne at 2:30 p.m. Second seeded Carson-Newman and seventh seeded Mars Hill will face off at 5 p.m. and the final match of the day will feature third seeded Anderson versus sixth seeded Lincoln Memorial at 7:30 p.m. The winner of Wingate/Newberry will face the winner of Tusculum/Lenoir-Rhyne Saturday at 5 p.m. and the winners of Carson-Newman/Mars Hill and Anderson/Lincoln Memorial will meet at 7:30 p.m. The tournament will culminate with the championship game Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m.

All information on the tournament, including livestat and video links, can be found at the Championship Central website and www.newberrywolves.com.

2014 Tournament Schedule - at Hickory, N.C.

Friday, Nov. 14 (at Lenoir-Rhyne)
Noon - #1 Wingate vs. #8 Newberry
2:30 p.m. - #4Tusculum vs. #5 Lenoir-Rhyne
5 p.m. - #2 Carson-Newman vs. #7 Mars Hill
7:30 p.m. - #3 Anderson vs. #6 Lincoln Memorial

Saturday, Nov. 15 (at Lenoir-Rhyne)
5 p.m. - WU-NC winner vs. TC-LR winner
7:30 p.m. - CN-MHU winner vs. AU-LMU winner

Sunday, Nov. 16 (at Lenoir-Rhyne)
3 p.m. SAC Championship Match