Wingate, N.C.----The Wingate University Bulldogs registered the highest hitting percentage in program history Saturday evening en route to a 3-0 victory over visiting Lincoln Memorial University in South Atlantic Conference volleyball action in Cuddy Arena. Wingate won by scores of 25-16, 25-11 and 25-17 to improve to 23-2 overall and 17-1 in the SAC. The Bulldogs have now won 16 consecutive matches and are 19-0 all-time against LMU. The Railsplitters fall to 12-12 overall and 9-9 in the conference.

Junior middle blocker Tyler Smith (Aiken, S.C.) had 12 kills in 17 swings, hitting .706 while adding four blocks. Senior right-side hitter Shelly Stumpff (Iowa City, Iowa) added 10 kills, four digs and two blocks, hitting .450 while sophomore outside hitter Katie Bludau (Seabrook, Texas) hit .600 with nine kills and three blocks. Freshman outside hitter Oakley Attaway (Belle Isle, Fla.) added eight kills with a .412 hitting percentage. Senior setter Iris Brewer (Cincinnati, Ohio) piled up 41 assists, eight digs and six kills, hitting 1.000 on the match while sophomore Kori Adams (Ayden, N.C.) and freshman Kimberly Hovey (Raleigh, N.C.) collected 10 digs apiece.

"In so many ways this was one of our most impressive performances since I have been coaching at Wingate," head coach Shelton Collier says. "Last night we lost our All-American middle hitter Abby Saehler to a serious knee injury and our team responded today by coming out and playing the absolute most complete match of our season against a very talented LMU team that has been playing great recently. We showed some great qualities today playing without one of our top players and team leaders, which was very special."

Kiera Holland had eight kills and seven digs to lead the LMU attack. Booke Fleeman added seven kills, hitting .353 while Liz Brock contributed five kills for the Railsplitters. Abby Cash handed out 20 assists, adding six digs.

Three straight Bludau kills, along with a Stumpff kill helped the Bulldogs jump out to a 12-5 lead in set one. A Fleeman kill trimmed the lead to five at 14-9, but a pair of Brewer kills, along with a kill from Smith made it 19-10. Back-to-back Attaway kills were followed by a Stumpff kill, giving the 'Dogs a 22-11 advantage. Kills from Holmquist and Bludau made it 24-15, while a Bludau kill capped the set. Wingate hit .613 in the opening frame, with 20 kills and just one error in 31 attacks.

Wingate raced out to a 10-3 lead in set two, getting two kills and two aces from Bludau, along with two kills and an ace from Stumpff. Two Brewer kills, followed by a block from Brewer and Holmquist made it 14-4. Back-to-back Stumpff kills put the Bulldogs on top 19-6, while kills from Attaway, Brewer and Phoebe Havenaar (Naperville, Ill.) made it 24-10. Another Havenaar kill capped the set. Wingate hit .615 in the second frame, with 17 kills and one error in 26 swings.

The Bulldogs jumped out to a 10-1 lead in the third set, getting four kills and two blocks from Smith to go along with strong serving from Holmquist. Another kill and a block from Smith made it 13-3, while three consecutive Attaway kills put the Bulldogs on top 16-5. A kill and an ace from Holmquist, followed by a Smith kill made it 21-10. Three more Smith kills put the 'Dogs on top 24-14, while an Attaway kill ended the match. The Bulldogs hit .438 in the final frame, with 16 kills and two errors in 32 swings. Smith piled up nine kills in 12 attacks in the final set for the Bulldogs, hitting .750 while adding three blocks.

The Bulldogs piled up 53 kills against just four errors in 89 attacks to hit .551. LMU had 24 kills and 10 errors, hitting .175. Bludau and Holmquist had two aces apiece, while Smith's four blocks were a match high. In addition to the school-record hitting percentage, Wingate set a season high for kills in a three-set match, while also committing a season-low four errors. Smith's hitting percentage is the highest of any Bulldog this year with at least 12 kills.

Wingate is back in action Thursday, traveling to Catawba for a 7 p.m. match.