Greeneville, Tenn.----The 24th-ranked Wingate University Bulldogs remained perfect in league play Saturday afternoon, prevailing 3-1 at Tusculum College in South Atlantic Conference volleyball action. Wingate won by scores of 25-14, 25-27, 25-20 and 25-21 to improve to 19-1 overall and 11-0 in the SAC. The Pioneers fall to 8-8 overall and 5-7 in the conference.

All-American Abby Saehler (Iowa City, Iowa) piled up 18 kills and eight digs to lead the Bulldogs, hitting .333 while adding two blocks and two aces. Junior outside hitter Katie Bludau (Seabrook, Texas ) had 17 kills and six digs, hitting .293 while sophomore outside hitter Oakley Attaway (Orlando, Fla.) contributed 10 kills with a .280 hitting percentage. Freshman middle blocker Lynnlee Mather (McDonough, Ga.) hit .333 with nine kills, while classmate Rachel Alles (Tinley Park, Ill.) compiled 46 assists, 16 digs and five kills. Freshman libero Treslyn Ortiz (Texas City, Texas) collected 19 digs.

"These tough road wins are hard to come by in our conference, so we appreciated that we had enough today to get out with a win," head coach Shelton Collier says. "Tusculum had some players who were hard to stop and had great matches. We were pleased that we had five strong hitting performances from our primary hitters and some awesome defense by our back-row players. Coming home with two tough wins on the opponent's home court is awesome for us."

Sarah Bouley had 12 kills and 16 digs to lead the Tusculum attack, hitting .348. Laryssa Welch hit .450 with 10 kills and five digs, while Aubrey Hawkins and Cassie Born contributed five kills apiece for the Pioneers. Hallie Zumack handed out 21 assists, while Melissa Mazur added 14 digs.

A kill and a block from Taylor Williams (Keedysville, Md.), along with a Saehler kill gave the Bulldogs a 13-9 lead in the opening set. Kills from Saehler and Bludau stretched the advantage to five, but a Mariah Lewis kill got TC back within four. Wingate countered with an 8-0 run to take a 24-12 lead. Mather had two kills and a block in the flurry, while Rachel Lods (Lancaster, Calif.) added two aces. A Mather kill ended the frame. Wingate hit .400 in set one, with 16 kills and two errors in 35 attacks.

The second set featured 19 ties and eight lead changes. A Bludau kill and Saehler ace gave the 'Dogs a 14-11 lead, but Tusculum countered with a 4-0 run, taking a 15-14 advantage on a Hawkins kill. Two Mather kills put Wingate back on top 17-16, but a kill and a block from Bouley gave the Pioneers a 19-17 lead. Back-to-back Saehler kills tied it at 22, while a Mather kill gave Wingate a one-point edge. A pair of Rachel Garnett kills put Tusculum back on top 25-24, but a kill from Bludau tied it at 25. Welch answered with a kill to make it 26-25, while a Zumack kill ended the frame, tying the match 1-1.

A kill and an ace from Bludau, followed by an Attaway kill gave Wingate a 12-7 lead in set three. A Garnett kill helped Tusculum get within three at 15-12, but a Mather kill stretched the advantage back to four. A Bouley kill and two Wingate errors tied the frame at 19. Attaway answered with back-to-back kills, while a Saehler kill made it 22-19. A Williams kill, followed by a Bludau kill made it 24-20, while a Tusculum error ended the set.

The Bulldogs raced out to a 9-1 lead in set four. Saehler contributed two kills in the flurry, while Attaway added a kill and an ace. Kills from Saehler and Bludau, along with an Attaway ace gave Wingate an 18-7 advantage. Kills from Bludau and Mather, along with an Alles kill made it 23-13, but kills from Welch and Bouley helped Tusculum get within five at 23-18. An Alles kill put the 'Dogs on top 24-18, while Saehler ended the match with a kill.

Wingate hit .262 on the day, with 64 kills and 21 errors in 164 attacks. Tusculum had 42 kills and 20 errors in 142 attacks, hitting .155. Williams led the Bulldogs with three blocks, while Attaway had three of Wingate's nine aces.

Wingate is back in action Friday, traveling to Anderson for a 7 p.m. start to begin the second half of conference play. The Bulldogs swept the Trojans in Cuddy Arena last month.