Indianapolis, Ind.----Wingate University earned the number one seed in the NCAA Division II Southeast Region volleyball tournament, officials announced this week. Wingate was chosen to host the 2009 Southeast Region volleyball tournament Friday through Sunday in Cuddy Arena.

The number 24 Bulldogs will begin play Friday night, facing Tusculum College at 7:30 p.m. Wingate is 34-1 overall on the season; the Bulldogs claimed their fourth consecutive Food Lion South Atlantic Conference tournament title over the weekend.

Wingate has been the number one team in the region in every poll this season. The Bulldogs earn their fifth consecutive trip to the NCAA post-season and their sixth journey in the last seven years. The 2009 season marks the second straight year Wingate University has hosted the Southeast Regional Tournament.

The Bulldogs are currently riding a 22-match winning streak. They have also won 46 consecutive SAC matches dating back to the 2006 season. Wingate is 98-5 overall since the beginning of the 2007 season. The corresponding .951 winning percentage during this three-year time frame ranks second in NCAA Division II. The Bulldogs have topped the 30-win mark three consecutive years.

The Bulldogs are led by 2009 South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year Stormi Gale (Richmond, Texas). Gale leads the conference with 3.77 kills per set, while ranking second with a .303 hitting percentage. First team All-SAC selection Lauren Billo (Orland Park, Ill.) leads the way with a .325 hitting percentage, while ranking second with 3.59 kills per set.

First team All-SAC setter Liz Willis (Raleigh, N.C.) leads the league with 9.97 assists per set. Sophomore libero Maggie Malone (Chicago, Ill.) was a second team All-SAC selection, ranking second in the league with 4.91 digs per set. The 2009 Food Lion SAC Tournament MVP, Malone has racked up a Wingate single-season record 574 digs in 2009.

Wingate will host Tusculum College in the opening round match Friday night at 7:30 p.m. The Bulldogs and Pioneers met twice in the 2009 season, with Wingate winning both matches 3-0. Billo had 10 kills to lead the way in the first matchup, while Gale added five kills and 10 digs. Senior outside hitter Jacki Emmenecker (Perrysburg, Ohio) led the way in the second meeting with 14 kills and a .444 hitting percentage, while Malone collected 16 digs.

The winner of the Wingate versus Tusculum match will take on the winner of the Carson-Newman College versus Catawba College match Saturday at 7 p.m. Five of the eight teams in the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Tournament are South Atlantic Conference teams. Flagler College, Peach Belt Conference regular season and tournament champion, earned the number two seed.

The Flagler Saints will take on the seventh-seeded Bobcats of Lees-McRae College, who won the Conference Carolinas tournament. Defending Southeast Regional champion Armstrong Atlantic State University earned the three seed; the AASU Pirates will take on the sixth seeded Railsplitters of Lincoln Memorial University.

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.)

MATCH SCHEDULE FOR

NCAA DIVISION II SOUTHEAST REGIONALS

CUDDY ARENA, WINGATE UNIVERSITY

WINGATE, N.C.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Session #1

12 noon

NCAA Division II Southeast Regional match #1

#3 Armstrong Atlantic State (26-9) vs. #6 Lincoln Memorial (22-9)

2:30 p.m.

NCAA Division II Southeast Regional match #2

#2 Flagler (32-8) vs. #7 Lees-McRae (29-5)

Session #2

5 p.m.

NCAA Division II Southeast Regional match #3

#4 Carson-Newman (22-9) vs. #5 Catawba (17-11)

7:30 p.m.

NCAA Division II Southeast Regional match #4

#1 Wingate (34-1) vs. #8 Tusculum (18-14)

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Session #3

4:30 p.m.

NCAA Division II Southeast Regional match #5

Winner of Match 1 vs. Winner of Match 2

7 p.m.

NCAA Division II Southeast Regional match #6

Winner of Match 3 vs. Winner of Match 4

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Session #4

7 p.m.

NCAA Division II Southeast Regional match #6 (championship match)

TICKET PRICES FOR EACH SESSION (FOUR SESSIONS)

$9 for adults, $5 for students, $3 for children 12 years and under

(Wingate students free with valid ID)