Box Score HICKORY, N.C. – The Newberry Wolves saw their season end after dropping a 3-0 decision to the first seeded, and 12th ranked, Wingate Bulldogs in the first round of the South Atlantic Conference tournament Friday afternoon.
The Wolves played well but the Bulldogs were able to walk away with the victory. Newberry hit .198 as a team but Wingate blasted a .364 percentage and 43 kills to propel them into the South Atlantic Conference semifinals tomorrow afternoon.
The first set saw a plethora of service errors go back and forth,but after closing the gap to a 7-6 deficit, the Wolves gave up six straight unanswered points to fall behind 12-6. Newberry pulled within striking distance again as they narrowed the score to 19-16 but the Bulldogs went on a 6-2 run to finish off the frame 25-18.
The second stanza was all Wingate, as the Bulldogs jumped out to a 16-6 lead. However, the Wolves did not give up, fighting back to 20-15 but Wingate went on another run, this time of 5-2, to wrap up the set 25-16 and take a 2-0 lead. Wingate hit an unprecedented .462 for the frame, compared to the Wolves .115.
Newberry found some life in the third set, recording their only lead of the match at 14-12. However, Wingate responded and recaptured the lead at 20-19. They scored the five remaining points while only allowing the Wolves to record one and close out the match at 25-20. Newberry recorded 15 kills and hit .233 in the set.
Newberry was led offensively by senior Amanda Soper who put away a team high eight kills and hit .333 for the match. Sophmore Logan Hayward totaled seven put downs of her own coming in at a .250 clip. Senior Holly Brisson had five terminations and compiled a .286 hitting clip. Senior libero Elayni Stokes led the defensive effort with 16 digs. Those 16 digs gives her 614 digs for the season, resetting her previous record from last year of 606.
The Wolves end the season with a 15-16 overall record.
