Rock Hill, S.C.----Wingate University junior outside hitter Lauren Billo (Orland Park, Ill.) has been named the SAC Volleyball Player of the Week, league officials announced Monday. Billo wins the award for the second time this year and the third time in her career.

Billo averaged 4.33 kills per set, while hitting .378 as the 24th-ranked Bulldogs notched another perfect week. Wingate posted three victories to extend its winning streak to 15 matches. Billo had 16 kills with a .438 hitting percentage in the 3-0 win at Brevard. She had a double-double in the 3-0 win at Lander, racking up 12 kills and 10 digs. Billo finished the week with 11 kills in the sweep over Francis Marion.

Billo is second in the SAC this season with 3.41 kills and a .329 hitting percentage, trailing teammate Stormi Gale (Richmond, Texas) in both categories. A second team All-SAC selection last year, Billo has had double-digit kills in 18 of Wingate’s 28 matches this year. She has collected at least seven kills in 18 straight matches.

The Bulldogs are 27-1 overall on the year and ranked 24th in the nation. They are the first team in SAC history to earn a top 25 ranking. The top-ranked team in the NCAA Division II Southeast Region, Wingate has won 41 consecutive SAC matches. The Bulldogs have won 71 of their last 73 regular season matches; they are 91-5 overall since the beginning of the 2007 season. Wingate’s .948 winning percentage (during this 96-match span) leads all of Division II.

Wingate has two conference matches this week. The Bulldogs travel to Lenoir-Rhyne University Tuesday night for a 7 p.m. start. A victory Tuesday would clinch at least a share of the 2009 SAC regular season title. The Bulldogs have won three consecutive regular season conference championships. Wingate will host Newberry College Saturday at 5 p.m.

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 more than 40 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 17 NCAA Division II sports. Wingate University has won the South Atlantic Conference Echols Athletic Excellence Award for the past three years.

Wingate University is ranked number three among NCAA Division II Academic All-America® producing schools in the 2000’s with 34 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 43 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.)