2010 Wingate Volleyball Schedule
Wingate, N.C.----Wingate University vice-president and director of athletics
Steve Poston and head volleyball coach
Shelton Collier have released the 2010 Wingate University volleyball schedule. The four-time defending South Atlantic Conference regular season and tournament champions have compiled a 100-6 record over the last three seasons, giving the Bulldogs a three-year winning percentage of .943. This figure ranks second only to three-time defending national champion Concordia-St. Paul.
The NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Tournament hosts the past two seasons, Wingate reached the regional finals for the first time in school history in 2009. Wingate also became the first school in SAC history to earn a ranking in the AVCA Top 25, ranking as high as number 23 during the season. The Bulldogs have won 46 consecutive SAC matches, and 57 of their last 58 regular season contests overall.
“I know our players are looking forward to another exceptional season this fall,” Collier says. “We start with a very challenging schedule, as six of our first eight matches are against 2009 NCAA tournament teams. We will certainly be tested right away.”
Wingate gets its season started Friday, Sept. 3, traveling to Banner Elk for a tournament hosted by Lees-McRae College. The Bulldogs take on the host Bobcats Friday night at 7 p.m. Lees McRae was the number seven seed in the 2009 NCAA Southeast Regionals. Wingate takes on Coker College at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 4. The Bulldogs then face defending Southeast Regional champion Flagler College at 1 p.m. Saturday. Wingate defeated the Saints in the regular season in 2009, before falling in the regional finals. Flagler advanced to the NCAA Final Four in 2009.
Wingate opens the 2010 SAC season at Catawba College on Tuesday, Sept. 7. The Bulldogs defeated Catawba three times in 2009, including a 3-1 win in the Food Lion SAC tournament semifinals.
The home season starts on Friday, Sept. 10, hosting Lincoln Memorial University at 7 p.m. In the three-year, 46-match SAC winning streak for Wingate, the Bulldogs have defeated LMU six times. Two of those matches went five sets, while the other four went four sets. Wingate has swept the Railsplitters once in the last three seasons, which came in the championship match of the 2008 Food Lion SAC tournament.
The Bulldogs host Carson-Newman College Saturday, Sept. 11. The two teams met four times in 2009, including the championship match in the Food Lion SAC tournament and the NCAA regional semifinals. Wingate won all four meetings, winning 3-1 in the Food Lion SAC tournament and 3-0 in the NCAA regionals. Wingate steps out of conference for a home match against Flagler on Sept. 15, meeting the 2009 regional champions for the second time during the regular season. The Flagler match is followed by trips to Mars Hill College and Tusculum College, two teams that Wingate swept a combined five times in 2009. The Bulldogs host another non-conference match Sept. 21, when Francis Marion University comes to town.
Wingate travels to Lenoir-Rhyne University and Brevard College on Sept. 24 and 28, two teams that Wingate swept a combined five times in 2009. Wingate hosts Winston-Salem State University Oct. 5 at 7 p.m., starting a five-match homestand. Newberry comes to Wingate on Friday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs host new SAC member Anderson (S.C.) University on Oct. 9 at 12 p.m. Wingate will host the University of Montevallo (Ala.) in a non-conference match at 4 p.m. on Oct. 9. The Bulldogs host Catawba Oct. 12 to finish the homestand.
The weekend of Oct. 15-16 features a trip to Tennessee, where Wingate will face Lincoln Memorial and Carson-Newman. The Bulldogs return home for the next four matches, facing Mars Hill, Tusculum, Brevard and Lenoir-Rhyne from Oct. 22 through Oct. 29. Wingate wraps up the regular season on the weekend of Nov. 5-6, traveling to Newberry and Anderson.
The 2010 Food Lion SAC Tournament will be held at Catawba Nov. 12-14. The Bulldogs have won four consecutive SAC Tournament titles, winning 12 straight SAC tournament matches. Wingate has dropped only four sets in the 12 matches, with eight sweeps while not going five in any SAC Tournament match during the four-year span.
The NCAA Division II Southeast Regional tournament will be held Nov. 18-20. The Bulldogs have been the top team in every Southeast Regional poll in the last two seasons, while hosting the NCAA Regionals both years. Wingate returns four All-SAC players, including the conference and regional Player of the Year
Stormi Gale (Richmond, Texas). Gale also earned first team All-American honors, while
Lauren Billo (Orland Park, Ill.) and
Maggie Malone (Chicago, Ill.) earned honorable mention All-American honors. All three earned All-Region honors, along with setter
Liz Willis (Raleigh, N.C.).
“We have two early matches against Flagler, a Final Four team after knocking us out in the NCAA Regional finals,” Collier says. “We have a road match against a strong Lees McRae team, plus we open conference play with several of our toughest SAC opponents. In addition, we will play some other solid Peach Belt teams. We should have a schedule that will prepare us well for defending our SAC tournament title, as well as for the NCAA tournament.”
WINGATE UNIVERSITY
Founded in 1896, Wingate University is a private four-year co-educational institution of 2,159 students offering active learning opportunities through personalized instruction, world travel, career discovery and community service.
Wingate offers 34 undergraduate majors in arts and sciences, business, communication, education, fine arts, music and sport sciences. It also offers graduate degrees in business, education, physician assistant studies and sport administration. In addition, the school awards the doctor of pharmacy and the doctor of education degrees.
Bulldog student-athletes compete in 19 NCAA Division II sports. Wingate University has won the South Atlantic Conference Echols Athletic Excellence Award for the past four years.
Wingate University is ranked number three among NCAA Division II Academic All-America® producing schools in the 2000’s with 36 honorees during this millennium. Only Pittsburg State (Kan.) University and Truman State (Mo.) University have produced more Academic All-America® honorees during this time period. Wingate’s 45 Academic All-America® honorees (lifetime) is tops among all SAC schools.
(Wingate University assistant sports information director
Hugh Patton wrote this article. Patton is a 2006 Wingate graduate with a B.A. degree in Communication Studies.)