Greeneville, Tenn. - The Lenoir-Rhyne University Volleyball Team (3-3) split its two matches Friday on the first day of the Tusculum Fall Classic. L-R defeated Francis Marion, 3-1, before falling to Lees-McRae by a 3-1 score.
Lenoir-Rhyne 3, Francis Marion 1
The Bears upended the Patriots by scores of 25-14, 22-25, 25-22 and 25-19 in their first match of the tournament Friday morning.
L-R was led by senior outside hitter Brooke Christenbury (Mooresville, N.C.) with a match-high 13 kills to go along with 16 digs.
Freshman outside hitter Whitney Brinkley (Asheville, N.C.) added a double-double (12 kills and 13 digs) as well for the Bears, who broke a one-all tie by winning both the second and third sets.
Francis Marion was led by Ashlee Crook (Parker, Colo.) with eight kills and Nicole Bennett (Round Hill, Va.) with 26 assists.
Lees-McRae 3, Lenoir-Rhyne 1
The Bobcats downed the Bears by scores of 22-25, 25-16, 25-19 and 25-23 during the afternoon.
Lees-McRae's Taylor Clendenin (Statesville, N.C.) led the way with a match-high 17 kills while Megan Mitchell (Minden, Nev.) added 45 assists and 11 digs as the Bobcats rallied from a 1-0 deficit to take the win.
L-R freshman middle blocker Haley Rhyne (Statesville, N.C.) finished with a team-high 11 kills while junior setter Meredith Lutz (Newton, N.C.) tallied 16 assists and eight digs in the losing effort.
Lenoir-Rhyne takes on Montevallo (11:00 a.m.) and King (7:00 p.m.) on the final day of the tournament Saturday.