CHARLOTTE, N.C.-   The Queens University of Charlotte volleyball team fell in four sets to Wingate University on Friday, September 16, 2016, as the Bulldogs tabbed the match 27-25, 25-20, 18-25, 25-23. Queens dropped to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in the South Atlantic Conference while Wingate continues their undefeated stretch with a 10-0 overall record and a 2-0 conference record.

Meredith Jones found 20 kills in the match to lead the floor for the night. Hannah Lewis helped the Royals defensively with eight blocks while Megan Mancini added 18 digs. Rebecca Cochran led the team with service aces tallying three as Sydney Kunz added 31 assists.

Tyler Smith led the attack for Wingate with 11 kills followed by 10 from Abby Saehler. Treslyn Oritz had 21 digs for the team.

The Royals held the lead for most of the first set but Wingate battled back late with the tying point coming at 21-21. Wingate would take a slight lead but a kill from Jones evened the game again at 23-23. The two teams would trade points with Wingate finally landing two points back-to-back to close the set.

The Bulldogs started the second set strong but Queens battled out of an 11-8 Wingate timeout to tie the game at 13-13. With another timeout called from the floor, the Bulldogs tabbed six points to move ahead 19-13. Queens started to close the gap but Wingate took the set to move ahead 2-0 in the match.

Although it took the team a couple points to find their rhythm, the Royals rallied to find themselves ahead 15-10 after trailing 5-0 earlier in the game. Wingate called a timeout but Queens held their momentum eventually finding a 7-1 run to capture a 24-16 lead. The Royals would go on to force a fourth set.

In the last set of the night, the two teams sat even, battling their way through the opening points. Wingate found the first lead forcing a Queens' timeout at 11-8 (Bulldogs). Although Wingate initially launched out the timeout with a 3-1 run, Queens found three unanswered points to move within two of the Bulldogs (14-12). As the match progressed, the Royals soon found themselves looking at a 20-14 deficit but two miss hits and a block from Jessica Raines gave Queens the momentum to get back into the game. Rallying, the Royals grabbed a sneaky kill from Kunz to move within a point of the Bulldogs at 23-22 only to be followed by a service ace from Cochran for the tie. In spite of the come from behind build from Queens, Wingate managed to rattle off two back-to-back kills cutting the Royals run short.

The Royals will face their third conference opponent of the week in Coker College tomorrow. The home match is set to begin at 2 p.m.