NEWBERRY - Coming off a big home win over Coker Friday night, the Newberry Wolves volleyball team looked to continue their positive momentum as they faced the top-ranked team in the conference, Wingate. The Bulldogs came out strong, however, and shut down any hopes of a Newberry victory as they swept the Wolves 3-0. The loss drops Newberry to 6-17 (4-14 SAC) on the season.

The match was tight early on, as the teams were knotted at four early on. Wingate went on a quick 4-0 run to take an 8-4 lead, forcing Newberry to call their first timeout of the set. The Wolves would never get any closer as the Bulldogs gradually extended their lead, stretching it to ten points on multiple occasions. Newberry would eventually close to within 23-14, but Wingate won two of the next three points to take the early 1-0 advantage with the 25-15 first set victory.

The second set was much of the same as the Bulldogs took an early 5-2 lead. Newberry would battle back and close to within two points on multiple occasions, but the conference leaders continued to hold strong and eventually pushed the lead out to 19-13. With Wingate leading 23-16, the Wolves looked to make a late move, but a Toni-Anne Whitlow service error ended the set and gave the Bulldogs an insurmountable 2-0 lead with the 25-18 set win.

Wingate once again took an early foothold in the third set as they won seven of the first ten points, forcing a Newberry timeout. They quickly stretched the lead out to 10-4 before the Wolves made a little run, with consecutive kills by Kylee Kanealey and Katie Ullsperger cutting the lead to 11-7. Wingate would then take a timeout and extend their lead as Newberry would get no closer than five points the rest of the way. The Bulldogs went on to win the set 25-16 to sweep the Wolves, improving their own conference record to 17-1 on the year.

Angela Gore led the offensive charge for the Wolves as she recorded nine kills. Katie Ullsperger also had an excellent all-around day as she recorded six kills and a team-leading two service aces. Sydney Diaz also recorded an ace and led the charge on the defensive side of the ball with 11 digs. Setter Avery Webb enjoyed another great day as she posted a double double on the afternoon with 15 assists and 10 digs. Olivia Kozemko also broke into double digits in assists with 13.

The Wolves will be back at home next weekend as they take on Queens and Catawba in hopes of securing a conference tournament bid.