Milledgeville, Ga.----The 16th-ranked Wingate University Bulldogs won the first two sets Saturday afternoon against Shorter University, then after dropping the third set, erased a 23-18 deficit in set four to claim a 3-1 victory on day two of the 2015 Bobcat Classic hosted by Georgia College. Wingate won by scores of 25-13, 25-18, 23-25 and 26-24 to move to 3-0 on the season. Shorter falls to 1-1.

All-American middle blocker Abby Saehler (Iowa City, Iowa) had 16 kills to lead the Wingate attack, adding nine digs and four blocks while hitting .293. Senior right-side hitter Shelly Stumpff (Iowa City, Iowa) contributed 12 kills, 11 digs and four aces, while freshman outside hitter Oakley Attaway (Belle Isle, Fla.) had 11 kills and six digs, hitting .333. Senior setter Iris Brewer (Cincinnati, Ohio) handed out 44 assists, while freshman Kimberly Hovey (Raleigh, N.C.) collected 17 digs.

"This will be one of the most important wins we have all season," head coach Shelton Collier says. "Shorter is very good, won a championship in a strong conference last year, and had us down 23-18 in the fourth set. Coming all the way back to win this match took an awesome effort by our team."

Elizabeth Dowd had 13 kills and 15 digs to lead the Shorter attack. Tiffani Estep, Danielle Melton and Alicia McClellan contributed seven kills each for the Hawks. Cheyenne Frady had 23 assists and seven digs, while Cheyenne McLemore had 19 digs.

Two Saehler kills, along with an ace from Stumpff gave the 'Dogs an early 7-3 lead in set one. Kills from Saehler and Attaway helped push the lead to six at 13-7. A Kill from Estep trimmed the lead to four, but a Hannah Givens (Greensburg, Ky.) kill and two Shorter errors made it 18-11. Wingate added a 5-0 run to take a 23-12 advantage, getting two aces from Stumpff. Back-to-back kills from Saehler ended the opening set. Wingate hit .324 in the first frame, while the Hawks hit .000.

A Stumpff ace, along with kills from Saehler and Attaway put the Bulldogs on top 11-6 in the second set. An Attaway kill and Brewer ace made it 13-7, while two Stumpff kills and an Attaway ace pushed the advantage to eight. Kills from Givens and Attaway put the 'Dogs on top 21-12, while kills from Stumpff and freshman Anna Holmquist (Lincoln, Nebr.) made it 24-17. A Stumpff kill ended the second set. Wingate had 16 kills and just three errors in the frame, hitting .464.

A Givens kill gave the Bulldogs an early 5-2 lead in set three, but Shorter scored seven of the next nine points, taking a 9-7 lead on a Dena Pierce kill. The 'Dogs used a 3-0 run to regain the lead, getting a block and a kill from Saehler. A Wingate error, followed by a Morgan Cleveland ace put the Hawks on top 16-14. A Kelsi Jones kill pushed the lead to three at 20-17. A Givens block and Saehler kill cut the lead to one, but an Estep block and BreAnna Thompson kill made it 24-21. The Bulldogs cut the lead to one at 24-23, but another Thompson kill ended the set.

A Jones kill and Dowd ace gave Shorter a 10-8 lead in set four. A Stumpff kill tied it at 11, but a Melton kill and two Wingate errors put the Hawks on top 15-12. A Dowd kill and Frady ace gave Shorter a 20-15 lead. An Attaway kill and Givens block cut the lead to three at 21-18, but a McClellan kill and Jones ace made it 23-18. The 'Dogs stormed back, scoring the next five points to tie it. Shorter committed five errors in the spurt, which was highlighted by a Saehler block. A Wingate error gave the Hawks a 24-23 lead, but Stumpff answered with a kill to tie the set at 24. The Bulldogs took the lead on a kill from Saehler, while a block from Saehler and Givens ended the match.

The Bulldogs hit .210 for the match, with 50 kills and 20 errors in 143 attacks. Shorter hit .095 with 45 kills and 31 errors in 148 attacks. Saehler, Givens and Tyler Smith (Aiken, S.C.) led the 'Dogs with four blocks each, while Stumpff had four of Wingate's nine aces.

The Bulldogs are back in action Saturday evening, closing out the Bobcat Classic at 6 p.m. against host Georgia College. Wingate opens the regular season home slate on Tuesday, hosting a tri-match against UNC Pembroke and Erskine.