Fort Lauderdale, Fla. – The Lenoir-Rhyne Volleyball Team (1-1) opened the 2017 season with a doubleheader split at the Nova Southeastern Shark Invitational Friday at Rick Case Arena.

Saint Leo 3, Lenoir-Rhyne 0
The Lions opened the season with a sweep of the Bears by scores of 25-21, 25-15 and 25-15.  Saint Leo was led by Ashley Quero (Hialeah, Fla.) with 15 kills and Anna Garrett (Merritt Island, Fla.) with 31 assists and nine digs in the win.

Lenoir-Rhyne freshman outside hitter Taylor Prall (Tipp City, Ohio) finished in double figures with 10 kills while senior outside hitter Brooke Redmond (Statesville, N.C.) totaled 14 kills and six digs but the Bears hit just .101 for the match in the losing effort.

Lenoir-Rhyne 3, American International 2
Prall led the way again with 18 kills and 13 digs while Redmond added a double-double as well – 16 kills and 16 digs – as the Bears held on to win after taking a 2-0 advantage.  Lenoir-Rhyne defeated American International by scores of 25-17, 25-21, 22-25, 25-27 and 17-15.

Lenoir-Rhyne, as a team, totaled 16 blocks while junior defensive specialist Bailey Cloninger (Hickory, N.C.) was a third Bears' player to notch a double-double after finishing with 32 assists and 11 digs.

American International was led by Diva Rivas-Reyes (Tucson, Ariz.) and Jana Potic (Belgrade, SERBIA) with 23 and 17 kills, respectively, and Dolores Kopren (Novi Sad, SERBIA) with 60 assists in the losing effort.  

Lenoir-Rhyne wraps up the invitational with two games on Saturday against Nova Southeastern (2:00 p.m.) and Saint Anselm (7:00 p.m.).