Greeneville, Tenn.----The 12th-ranked Wingate University Bulldogs claimed their ninth consecutive outright regular season SAC title Saturday afternoon, overcoming an opening set loss to win 3-1 at Tusculum in South Atlantic Conference volleyball action. Wingate won by scores of 27-29, 25-16, 25-17 and 26-24 to improve to 28-2 overall and 21-1 in the SAC. Tusculum falls to 16-14 overall and 16-6 in the conference.

Wingate has now piled up 11 regular season SAC titles to go along with 10 tournament titles. The Bulldogs will be the number one seed in next week's SAC Tournament, where they will look for a ninth straight championship. Wingate has piled up 17 conference titles over the past nine seasons. The 'Dogs are 141-3 in league place since the start of 2007.

"Today we were able to achieve an important goal our team set," head coach Shelton Collier says. "What makes this championship particularly rewarding is the reality that by having the last place team as our travel partner, every weekend all year long, our opponents needed to tactically and emotionally prepare for just one match, meaning Wingate, and we had the more difficult challenge of preparing for two strong opponents every weekend. To win 21 out of 22 matches is quite an impressive accomplishment. There are many really good teams in the league, so it took a great year-long effort to achieve this goal. We are proud of bringing another trophy back to Wingate."

Junior right-side hitter Shelly Stumpff (Iowa City, Iowa) piled up 18 kills to lead the Wingate attack, adding seven digs and four aces. Freshman outside hitter Katie Bludau (Seabrook, Texas) hit .478 with 12 kills, while senior outside hitter Susie Murach (Burke, Va.) also had 12 kills. Senior middle blocker Lexi Potter (North Liberty, Iowa) contributed 11 kills with a .417 hitting percentage. Redshirt senior Alison Cooke (Davidson, N.C.) had 50 assists, 10 digs and three kills, while freshman libero Kori Adams (Ayden, N.C.) collected 17 digs.

Sabrina Schleuger had 10 kills and 10 digs for the Pioneers, while Laryssa Welch and Rachel Garnett also had 10 kills each for Tusculum. Megan Hasse contributed seven kills for the Pioneers, while Hannah Berling handed out 20 assists. Moriah Jones collected 18 digs for Tusculum.

Wingate used a 5-0 run to take a 12-7 lead in the first set, getting two Bludau kills in the flurry. Kills from Murach and Potter made it 15-9, but TC answered with a 7-0 run, taking a 16-15 lead on back-to-back Welch kills. Kills from Stumpff and sophomore middle blocker Abby Saehler (Iowa City, Iowa) gave the 'Dogs a 20-18 lead, but a 4-0 TC run gave the Pioneers a 22-20 lead on a Schleuger kill. A Potter kill and Stumpff ace tied it, while kills from Potter and Murach gave the Bulldogs a 24-23 lead. Garnett tied it at 24 with a kill, but Wingate regained the lead on a Potter kill. Tusculum took a 26-25 advantage on a Welch kill, but a Saehler kill and Cooke ace gave the Bulldogs a 27-26 advantage. A Wingate error tied it at 27, while a Hasse block put TC back on top. The Pioneers claimed the first set on a Bulldog error. Tusculum hit .429 in the opening frame, with 16 kills and just one error.

Wingate jumped out to a 6-3 lead in the second set on a Stumpff kill, but a Hasse ace tied it at six. Kills from Stumpff and Saehler put the 'Dogs on top by two, while a Stumpff kill made it 13-10. TC used a 3-0 run to tie it at 13, but the Bulldogs responded with four straight points to take an 18-14 advantage. Stumpff and Potter started the flurry with kills, while Adams capped it with an ace. A 5-0 Wingate run put the Bulldogs on top 23-15. Bludau capped the spurt with a kill and a block. A Bludau kill made it 24-16, while a Cooke kill finished the set. The 'Dogs hit .556 in the second frame, with 17 kills and two errors in 27 swings.

A kill and two aces from Stumpff gave the Bulldogs a 10-8 lead in the third set. Blocks from Potter and Saehler stretched the advantage to three, but a Hasse block got TC to within one at 12-11. Kills from Murach and Stumpff pushed the WU lead to three, while a 4-0 run made it 19-13. Bludau started the spurt with a kill, while Adams finished it with an ace. Another 5-0 run made it 24-14. Stumpff, Bludau, Potter and freshman Haley Henderson (Santa Fe, Texas) each contributed a kill in the flurry. A Bludau kill finished the set.

A Garnett kill and Schleuger block helped Tusculum jump out to a 10-7 lead in set four. A pair of Murach kills cut the lead to one at 12-11. A Schleuger kill put the Pioneers on top 17-15, but consecutive kills from Potter, Saehler, Cooke and Murach put the Bulldogs on top 19-17. A Wingate error cut the lead to one, but a block from Stumpff and Saehler, followed by a Cory McGowan (Pittsburgh, Pa.) kill made it 22-18. Kills from Stumpff and Saehler gave Wingate a 24-21 advantage, but the Pioneers answered with three straight points, getting a kill and a block from Garnett to make it 24-24. Bludau answered with a big kill to make it 25-24, while a Tusculum error ended the match.

Wingate hit .305 for the match, piling up 64 kills against 21 errors in 141 attacks. Tusculum had 46 kills and 21 errors in 142 attacks, hitting .176. After the hot start in set one, the Pioneers hit under .200 in the final three sets, including hitting -.050 in set two. Stumpff had four of Wingate 10 aces, while Saehler piled up a match-high six blocks.

The Bulldogs will be the number one seed in next week's SAC Tournament, which begins Friday. All matches will take place in Hickory, N.C. on the campus of Lenoir-Rhyne University.