Anderson, S.C.----The third-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne University Bears erased a 1-0 deficit Sunday afternoon, defeating top-seeded Wingate University 3-1 in the South Atlantic Conference tournament championship match. LRU won by scores of 17-25, 25-22, 25-20 and 25-23 to become the first team other than Wingate to win a tournament title since 2005. The Bears earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, improving to 23-7 overall. Wingate falls to 28-4 on the season.

The loss stops an incredible Wingate run over the past decade. The Bulldogs have won 10 consecutive regular season SAC titles, while reeling off nine consecutive SAC Tournament championships, giving the Bulldogs each of the last 19 conference championships. Wingate has collected a SAC-best 23 total league titles all-time.

"Winning nine consecutive conference tournament championships is an amazing accomplishment and now that the streak is over we can reflect back and be proud of all the players who contributed to those championships over the years," head coach Shelton Collier says. "We were hoping we could pull another one off this year. We knew it would be especially tough without Abby Saehler and we came up short. Lenoir Rhyne deserves credit for outplaying us. Now we change gears and start preparing for the NCAA tournament and making a run at getting back to the Elite Eight."

Brooke Redmond had 14 kills and 17 digs to lead the Lenoir-Rhyne attack. Emily Steele and Ashley Wells added nine kills apiece, while Morgan Bunker contributed six kills for the Bears. Briana Gottberg piled up 27 assists and 20 digs, while Bailey Cloninger collected 22 digs.

Sophomore outside hitter Katie Bludau (Seabrook, Texas) had a match-high 17 kills to lead the Wingate attack. SAC Player of the Year Shelly Stumpff (Iowa City, Iowa) added 16 kills and 22 digs, while freshman Oakley Attaway (Belle Isle, Fla.) had 13 kills for the Bulldogs. Senior setter Iris Brewer (Cincinnati, Ohio) had 42 assists and 27 digs, while freshman Kimberly Hovey (Raleigh, N.C.) picked up 17 digs.

Three consecutive Stumpff kills gave Wingate a 12-9 lead in set one. A Stumpff block made it 14-10, but a kill from Steele cut the lead to three. The Bulldogs responded with a 5-0 run, getting two Stumpff aces to take a 19-11 advantage. Kills from Bludau and Attaway made it 24-17, while a Stumpff kill ended the opening frame.

Kills from Bludau and Anna Holmquist (Lincoln, Neb.), along with a Holmquist ace gave Wingate an 11-8 lead in set two. LRU responded with an 8-0 run, taking a 16-11 lead on a Bunker kill and Redmond ace. Back-to-back Bludau kills, along with kills from Stumpff and Brewer made it 20-18, but a Thomas kill put the Bears on top 22-19. A Wells kill made it 24-21, while a Steele kill ended the frame.

A pair of Redmond kills helped Lenoir-Rhyne take a 7-1 lead in set three. A block from Steele and Bunker made it 13-5, while a Thomas kill put the Bears on top 16-6. Three consecutive Attaway kills got Wingate within six at 17-11, while a pair of aces from Kori Adams (Ayden, N.C.) made it 19-15. Back-to-back kills from Redmond made it 22-15, but three straight Bludau kills got the Bulldogs back within four at 22-18. A Redmond block and Wingate error made it 24-18, while a kill from Redmond ended the frame.

Lenoir-Rhyne used a 6-0 run to take a 9-5 lead in set four, taking advantage of five Wingate errors. Kills from Holmquist and Brewer got the Bulldogs within two at 11-9, but kills from Redmond and Wells pushed the lead back to six at 15-9. A kill and a block from Stumpff, along with an Attaway kill made it 15-13, but a kill from Samantha Bishop gave LRU a 20-17 advantage. Back-to-back kills from Attaway tied the frame at 20, while a block from Brewer put the 'Dogs on top 21-20. Kills from Bunker and Redmond gave Lenoir-Rhyne a 23-21 lead, but a kill from Attaway along with a Lenoir-Rhyne error made it 23-23. Redmond answered with a kill to make it 24-23, while another Redmond error ended the match.

Lenoir-Rhyne hit .185 for the match, with 50 kills and 17 errors in 178 attacks. Wingate had 58 kills and 25 errors in 190 attacks, hitting .174. Adams and Stumpff each had three aces for the Bulldogs, while Stumpff led Wingate with two blocks.

The Bulldogs will learn their postseason future Sunday night, when the NCAA Division II tournament field is announced. Wingate has appeared in 10 consecutive NCAA Tournaments, winning three straight regional titles and advancing to the NCAA Elite Eight in four of the last five years. The Bulldogs were ranked second in the most recent NCAA Southeast Region poll.