NEWBERRY, S.C. – The Lenoir-Rhyne Volleyball Team ran its winning streak to six in a row with a comeback victory over Newberry on Saturday afternoon. The Bears dropped the first set but rallied back to take the final three frames including a dominating 25-6 clinching win in the fourth set. 

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:

Final: Lenoir-Rhyne 3, Newberry 1
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (8-3, 4-0 SAC) | Newberry (6-6, 1-3 SAC)
Location: Eleazer Arena

STATS OF THE MATCH:

• A back-and-forth first set would go to Newberry by a final of 25-23 thanks largely to a 6-0 spurt from the Wolves to turn an 11-8 deficit to a 14-11 lead. After LR evened it at 14, Newberry pulled away with five unanswered points.
• Trailing 24-18, LR would not go down easily as an Emma Clark kill capped a 5-0 run that cut the lead to 24-23 but Newberry finished off the first set on a kill by Baylor Herlehy.
• Newberry jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the second set but the Bears stormed back and scored 12 of the next 16 points to go up 14-10. 
• Newberry eventually reclaimed the lead and took a 21-19 edge as well as 22-21. With the set tied at 24, Emmaleigh Allen connected on back-to-back kills to give LR a 26-24 win.
• In the crucial third set, LR would break the spirit of Newberry with a clutch 29-27 victory. Allen's ace capped the frame that saw LR hit .304 and hold a 21-14 advantage in kills.
• The last stanza was all LR as the Bears hit .423 and held Newberry to -.176 hitting. LR had zero errors in the set and Newberry had 10. After Newberry cut it to 5-3, LR scored 20 of the last 23 points to grab the victory.
• Allen had a monster performance with 23 kills and a .465 hitting percentage to go with nine digs, two aces and a block. 
• Emma Clark had 11 kills and hit .529 to go with five blocks. 
• Rachel Wildermuth had 21 assists and 14 digs and Ashley Hawkins added nine kills and 11 digs. 

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• Lenoir-Rhyne is 4-0 in SAC play for the first time since 2017. 
• When these two met in Newberry last year, LR pulled out a dramatic five-set win after trailing 2-0. LR lost the second set 32-30 to fall down by two but rallied to win the final three sets 25-23, 25-23 and 15-12.
• The Bears improve to 38-22 all-time against Newberry and are 15-13 in Eleazer Arena. 
• Allen's 23 kills are the most by any LR player in a match this season.
• Braelyn Faust is up to 220 career blocks.

UP NEXT: LR will return to action on Tuesday when they travel to Wingate as the last two undefeated teams in league play in the Piedmont Division. First serve is set for 7 p.m. at Wingate.