WINGATE, N.C. --- Katie Bludau recorded 17 kills and five blocks to lead top-seeded Wingate to a 3-1 win over No. 8-seed Tusculum Tuesday night in a quarterfinal match of the South Atlantic Conference Volleyball Tournament at Cuddy Arena.
Wingate (27-5) won the match by scores of 26-24, 20-25, 25-17, 25-23 to advance to Friday's semifinal against No. 4 seed Queens. The semifinal and championship rounds will be played at Wingate. Tusculum ends its season at 12-19 on the season.
The Bulldogs posted a .317 team hitting percentage as WU recorded 60 kills with 14 hitting errors in 145 attempts. Tusculum posted a .236 average with 56 kills, 21 errors in 148 total attempts.
Senior Rachel Garnett led the charge for the Pioneers as she posted a dozen kills and a .435 hitting percentage in her collegiate finale. She ends her career with 1,069 kills, which are the sixth-most in program history. Garnett also finishes ranked with her .241 career hitting percentage (8th in TC history), 2,968 career attacks (8th in TC history) and 443 career sets played (9th in TC history). She also finishes her TC career with 1,159.5 points.
Senior Sarah Bouley also wraps up her TC career, finishing with nine kills, eight digs and a service ace for the Pioneers. She closes out her Pioneer career with 459 kills, 584 digs, 46 service aces, 55 blocks and 535 career points.
The opening set saw nine ties and six lead changes as the first frame went down to the wire. Trailing 10-9, Tusculum scored four straight points, including back-to-back kills from Garnett as the Pioneers led 13-10. TC would lead 116-13 after a Mariah Lewis kill, but Wingate bounced back with an 8-3 run, highlighted by an Anna Holmquist ace and a Rachel Alles kill as the Bulldogs led 21-19. Wingate led 23-21, but the Pioneers scored three straight on kills from Lewis and Bouley and block assists from Lewis and Aubrey Hawkins as TC led 24-23. But Wingate responded with a 3-0 run of its own, including a Treslyn Ortiz ace on set point and the Bulldogs prevailed 26-24. Both teams were hitting at a high rate as the Bulldogs posted a .432 hitting percentage, while Tusculum posted a .351 attack percentage.
Tusculum answered in the second set as TC jumped out to a 14-9 lead following a Hallie Zumack kill and a block from the duo of Lewis and Bouley. Wingate trimmed the TC lead to 14-11, but Tusculum extended its advantage back to 17-11 after a WU service error and kills from Hawkins and Laryssa Welch. The Bulldogs cut the Tusculum lead to three on three occasions down the stretch, including 21-18 after an Attaway kill. But the Pioneers closed out the set with a 4-2 run, including Hawkins' kill on set point as Tusculum claimed the frame 25-20 to even the match at one set each.
In the third set, Tusculum had the momentum early, vaulting out to a 4-1 lead, but Wingate closed the distance and overtook the Pioneers with a 9-2 spurt for a 10-6 Bulldog advantage. Tusculum moved to within two points on a couple of occasions, including 14-12 after a Hawkins' kill. But Wingate score four straight to move ahead 18-12 and would eventually take the set 25-17 at move out to a 2-1 lead in the match.
Tusculum had its sights of evening the match as the Pioneers scored the first three points of the frame and led 17-12 after consecutive kills from Garnett. Tusculum held a 20-16 led before the home team responded with five straight points to take its first lead of the set at 21-20. The score would be tied three more times, including 23-23 after a Hawkins' kill. But a kill from Abby Saehler and a TC hitting error on match point, clinched the match for the Bulldogs, winning 25-23.
Saelher finished the match with 16 kills and a .353 hitting percentage, while Attaway tallied a dozen kills and hit for a .345 clip. Rachel Alles dished out 44 of her team's 57 assists, while Ortiz led all players with 19 digs.
For Tusculum, Hawkins posted a dozen kills and four blocks, while Lewis tallied 11 kills and six blocks. Zumack had 27 assists, while Shannon Murphy recorded a double-double with 19 assists and 12 digs. TC's Megan Yopko and Sabrina Schleuger totaled 13 digs apiece for the Pioneers.
