WINGATE, N.C. - Newberry was bested by Wingate 3-0 on the road in their conference opener.
Wingate (7-0, 2-0 SAC) asserted their dominance early, going on a 6-0 run to start the game. Newberry (4-3, 0-1 SAC) fought to tie it 7-7 but lost momentum as Wingate tallied six straight points. The team could not recover and a couple of errors made by Newberry ended the set 25-16.
The second set began in similar fashion with the Bulldogs jumping to a 12-4 lead. A pair of kills from Vanessa Blas closed the gap 16-10, but the Wolves would drop the set 25-13.
Newberry endured and kept the score even to begin the third set. Two kills by Sidra Triplett gave the Wolves a 6-5 lead before Wingate dashed to a 21-10 lead. A 6-2 run was not enough to save the Wolves from a 25-16 loss in the final set.
Triplett had a team-high six kills with Blas and Toni-Anne Whitlow each recording five. Maggie Marsh led the team with 13 assists.
Newberry had 20 total kills compared to 43 from Wingate. The Wolves were also surpassed in blocks, assists, and digs.
"We can be proud of the way we hung together tonight and did not make excuses. Sometimes you lose, sometimes you get beat, and tonight we got beat," said Head Coach Callie Youngman. "Now we go back to our training and see how our players respond, because it's not going to get any easier with our matches ahead."
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The Wolves return home Friday, Sept. 15 for their conference home-opener against Carson-Newman at 7 p.m.
