SAVANNAH, Ga. --- Wingate University won its second NCAA Division II Southeast Region volleyball championship with a 3-0 victory over Tusculum College Saturday afternoon at the Aquatics and Recreation Center on the campus of Armstrong Atlantic State University.

The Bulldogs (32-2) advanced to the Elite Eight next weekend in Pensacola, Fla. by defeating the Pioneers (24-8) by game scores of 25-14, 25-22 and 25-20 in the fourth meeting of the year between the South Atlantic Conference rivals.

Shelly Stumpff led Wingate with 13 kills while Anna Hilton, Grace Krauser and Alison Cooke combined for 19 kills without an error. Cooke also had a match-high 35 assists while Hilton led the Bulldogs with 19 digs.

Tusculum was paced by Megan Hasse, who finished the match with eight kills and 11 digs. Kassie Voelker, Sam Underwood and Danae Stauffer each had seven kills apiece for the Pioneers, who lost a five-set thriller in the SAC championship game to the Bulldogs two weeks ago.

Hasse was named to the All-Tournament Team along with Caitlyn Dean and Ashley Sarmiento for the Pioneers. In three matches in the regional, Hasse recorded a team-high 33 kills, while Dean posted 90 digs and Sarmiento dished out 89 assists.

In the first set, the Bulldogs led wire-to-wire thanks to 14 kills on 26 attacks (.423 hitting percentage). The Pioneers were able to chop a 7-2 deficit down to 14-11, but the Bulldogs responded with six straight points to take a 20-11 lead. Tusculum battled back with three consecutive points, only to see Wingate run off the final five points to capture the set 25-14.

The second set was in doubt until Wingate scored three of the final four points to break a 21-21 tie. Both teams had strong hitting efforts in the set, with Tusculum posting a .300 mark and Wingate slightly better at .311. Just as in the first set, Wingate opened up an early lead, but Tusculum erased a 10-6 deficit to tie the score at 10-10.

A kill by Stauffer gave the Pioneers their first lead of the day at 12-11, but a 4-0 run by the Bulldogs turned a 14-14 tie into an 18-14 lead. Tusculum stormed back to tie the match at 21-21 on back-to-back kills by Stauffer and Hasse, but kills by Krauser and Hilton and a pair of Pioneer attack errors gave the Bulldogs the set 25-21 and a 2-0 match lead.

Tusculum refused to go quietly in the third set, taking its largest lead of the day at 5-3 on a kill by Sam Underwood. However, Wingate responded with eight consecutive points to build an 11-5 lead. The Pioneers attempted to battle back, holding off three match points before a block by Stumpff gave the Bulldogs the set, match and championship.

With a match-high 26 digs, Dean finished the season with a Division II single-season record of 932 digs and extended her school career-record total to 2,461 with one year of eligibility remaining. Fellow junior Sarmiento concluded the season with 1,086 assists and ranks second in program history with 3,453 career assists through three years.

For seniors Underwood, Alyssa Raterman, Bailee Price and Melanie Gibson, Saturday's match brought an end to their Pioneer careers. In four seasons, the quartet combined for 85 victories, two SAC championship match appearances and four trips to the NCAA Tournament, including their first-ever trip to the Sweet 16 this season.

Underwood finished her career with 1,031 kills and 1,192 digs to rank fifth on the program's career digs list. Price ends her Pioneer career third in digs with 1,322 to go with 887 kills, Raterman tallied 776 career kills and Gibson finished with 522 digs in four seasons.

Raterman's .305 career hitting percentage is the second highest in school history, while Underwood (3,229) and Price (3,194) finished third and fourth, respectively in career total attempts. Price also tallied 117 career service aces, which are sixth in the TC record book.