Harrogate, Tenn.----For the second day in a row, the Wingate University Bulldogs overcame an opening set loss on the road, winning three consecutive sets to pick up a 3-1 victory at Lincoln Memorial University in South Atlantic Conference volleyball action Saturday afternoon. Wingate won by scores of 15-25, 25-18, 25-22 and 25-19 to improve to 11-2 overall and 6-1 in the SAC. LMU falls to 4-6 overall and 2-5 in the conference. The Bulldogs are now 18-0 all-time against the Railsplitters, while improving to 147-4 in league play since the start of the 2007 season.

Senior right-side hitter Shelly Stumpff (Iowa City, Iowa) notched her eighth double-double of the year to lead the Bulldogs, piling up 17 kills and 13 digs to go along with four digs and three aces. Freshman outside hitter Oakley Attaway (Belle Isle, Fla.) added 13 kills and five digs, while All-American middle blocker Abby Saehler (Iowa City, Iowa) had 12 kills, seven digs and six blocks. Sophomore outside hitter Katie Bludau (Seabrook, Texas) contributed eight kills, while senior Iris Brewer (Cincinnati, Ohio) handed out 47 assists to go along with 11 digs. Freshman libero Kimberly Hovey (Raleigh, N.C.) collected 17 digs for the Bulldogs.  

"I was really impressed with our team finding a way to win this one here," head coach Shelton Collier says. "After such an emotional, hard-fought win last night, it really challenged our team to come back this afternoon and do it again. LMU played amazing in set one and beat us really bad, so it was great for us to be able to answer that and elevate our play in the next three sets to get the win."

Liz Brock led the LMU attack with 11 kills, while Jazzy Oates hit .333 with eight kills for the Railsplitters. Brooke Fleeman added seven kills, while Tone Gill and Kiera Holland contributed six kills apiece for LMU. Abby Cash had 35 assists and 13 digs, while Holland led the Railsplitters with 18 digs.
A block and a kill from Brock gave LMU a 9-5 lead in the opening set. A Fleeman kill stretched the lead to six at 15-9, while an Oates kill and Wingate error gave the Railsplitters a 20-11 advantage. A kill and an ace from Bludau got the Bulldogs within six, but Lincoln Memorial closed the set on a 4-0 run, claiming the set on a kill from Cash.

Wingate jumped out to a 4-0 lead in set two, but a kill from Gill tied it 5-5. The Bulldogs responded with a 5-0 run, taking a 10-5 lead on a pair of Saehler blocks and a Bludau kill. A Stumpff ace and Brewer kill made it 14-6, while Saehler added a kill to make it 15-7. A Brewer ace and Stumpff kill gave the 'Dogs a 19-11 lead, but a pair of Fleeman kills got LMU within four at 19-15. A kill and a block from Bludau pushed the Wingate lead back to six, while an Attaway kill made it 24-17. Saehler ended the set with a kill.

Kills from Stumpff and Anna Holmquist (Lincoln, Nebr.) gave the Bulldogs a 9-7 lead in set three. LMU responded with a 3-0 run, taking a 12-10 advantage on a Fleeman block. Two kills and a block from Saehler put Wingate back on top 14-13, while kills from Holmquist and Attaway made it 17-14. A kill from Gill trimmed the lead to one, but a Holmquist kill followed by back-to-back Saehler blocks made it 20-16. Back-to-back LMU errors put the 'Dogs on top by six, but a Brock kill and two Wingate errors made it 22-19. Holmquist answered with a kill, while an Attaway ace made it 24-19. A block from Stumpff and Holmquist ended the frame.

Wingate used a 4-0 run to take a 10-7 lead in set four, getting kills from Saehler, Holmquist and Attaway. A Brock kill got LMU within two at 13-11, but kills from Bludau and Stumpff pushed the lead to four at 15-11. The Bulldogs added a 5-0 run to go on top 21-13. Saehler had two kills in the flurry. Kills from Attaway and Stumpff made it 24-16, while another Attaway kill capped the match.

Wingate hit .190 on the match, with 58 kills and 28 errors in 158 attacks. LMU had 46 kills and 23 errors in 140 attacks, hitting .164. Saehler had a match-high six blocks from the Bulldogs, while junior Tyler Smith (Aiken, S.C.) added four blocks. Stumpff had three of Wingate's six aces on the day.

The Bulldogs are back in action Tuesday, hosting Lees-McRae at 7 p.m. Wingate will have four home matches next week, hosting Catawba Thursday, then welcoming Queens and Wheeling Jesuit to Cuddy Arena for a tri-match on Saturday.