Charlotte, N.C.----The Wingate University Bulldogs picked up their second win of opening day Friday afternoon, prevailing 3-1 against Augusta University on day one of the Queens Invitational in NCAA Division II volleyball action. Wingate improves to 2-0 on the year, while the Jaguars fall to 1-1 on the season.

Senior outside hitter Katie Bludau (Seabrook, Texas) led the Bulldogs for the second time in as many matches Friday, tying a career high with 17 kills to go along with nine digs and four aces, hitting .469. Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Phoebe Havenaar (Naperville, Ill.) hit .650 with 13 kills and four blocks, while junior outside hitter Oakley Attaway (Orlando, Fla.) contributed 11 kills with a .345 hitting percentage. Junior middle blocker Anna Holmquist (Lincoln, Nebr.) hit .353 with nine kills and three blocks, while freshman Anne Abernathy (Knoxville, Tenn.) hit .455 with six kills. Sophomore setter Rachel Alles (Tinley Park, Ill.) had 50 assists, 11 digs and four kills, while junior libero Kori Adams (Ayden, N.C.) had 19 digs and five aces for the Bulldogs. Senior Rachel Truslow (Matthews, N.C.) tied her career high with 11 digs.

"This was a good test and a good win for us tonight," head coach Shelton Collier says. "We had a number of players who had to elevate their games, especially after dropping that second set. We had several high-kill, low-error hitters, plus we played some really good defense. Having two wins over Peach Belt teams was important for us."

Two kills and a block from Bludau gave the Bulldogs an early 7-1 lead in set one. A Havenaar kill made it 11-2, while a Bludau kill and Adams ace made it 16-6. Two more Bludau kills, along with a Bludau block made it 20-7. A Holmquist kill made it 24-12, while an Augusta error ended the set. Wingate had 15 kills and one error in the first frame, hitting .400.

A Savanna Roy ace gave the Jaguars a 7-2 lead in set two, but two Attaway kills and a Holmquist block gave the Bulldogs an 11-10 advantage. A Roy kill put Augusta back on top 13-11, but kills from Bludau and Holmquist put Wingate back on top. A McKenzey Beck kill gave the Jaguars an 18-16 advantage, but the 'Dogs scored the next four points, taking a 20-18 lead on kills from Havenaar and Attaway. An Adams ace, followed by kills from Attaway and Holmquist gave Wingate a 24-19 advantage, but Augusta scored the next seven points to take the set. Back-to-back Savanna Gonzales kills made it 24-22, while three straight aces from Beck gave the Jaguars a 25-24 lead. A block from Gonzales ended the set, tying the match 1-1.

A kill and a block from Holmquist gave the Bulldogs a 10-6 lead in the third set, but a Chloe Allen kill got the Jaguars back within one. Wingate answered with an emphatic 9-0 run to go on top 19-9. Havenaar had a kill and two blocks in the spurt, while Adams added two aces. Kills from Abernathy and Attaway, along with a Holmquist kill made it 24-15. Attaway ended the set with a kill. Wingate hit .357 in the third frame, with 16 kills and just one error.

Back-to-back Attaway kills gave Wingate a 10-6 lead in the fourth set, but a Bulldog error got Augusta within three at 11-8. The 'Dogs scored the next five points, getting three straight Bludau kills to get the spurt started. A Bludau kill and two aces from Alles made it 20-9, while Bludau added a kill and two aces to make it 23-11. Havenaar made it 24-11 with a kill, while another Havenaar kill ended the match. The Bulldogs had 19 kills and four errors in 29 swings in the fourth frame, hitting .517.

Wingate hit .345 on the day, with 63 kills and 13 errors in 145 attacks. Augusta had 38 kills and 17 errors in 142 attacks, hitting .148. Adams had five of Wingate's 12 aces, while Bludau added four aces. Havenaar had a match-best four blocks for the Bulldogs.

Wingate is back in action Saturday, playing two more matches in Charlotte. The Bulldogs face Shorter at 12 p.m., then take on Winston-Salem State at 4 p.m.