Hickory, N.C. – The No. 23 Wingate University Volleyball Team (28-1, 13-0) won its 16th straight match with a 3-0 sweep of Lenoir-Rhyne University (17-12, 3-9) Tuesday evening at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium.  The Bulldogs won by scores of 25-19, 25-20 and 25-21 and claimed their 43rd consecutive South Atlantic Conference contest.

Lenoir-Rhyne was led by sophomore outside hitter Chelsea Hill (Lexington, N.C.) with nine kills while sophomore libero Marrissa Church (Statesville, N.C.) tallied 19 digs.  Freshman setter Meredith Lutz (Statesville, N.C.) added 27 assists despite the loss for the Bears.

Wingate was led by Lauren Billo (Orland Park, Ill.) and Stormi Gale (Richmond, Texas) with 13 and 11 kills, respectively, while Liz Willis (Raleigh, N.C.) finished with 28 assists as the Bulldogs also won their 23rd straight South Atlantic Conference road match.

Lenoir-Rhyne travels to Jefferson City, Tenn., to face Carson-Newman on Friday beginning at 6:30 p.m., while Wingate returns home to play Newberry on Saturday at 5:00 p.m., in an attempt to win the 2009 SAC Regular Season Championship outright.