SALISBURY, N.C. -- Lenoir-Rhyne dropped its first South Atlantic Conference match in over a month as they were defeated at Catawba on Saturday afternoon. The Bears previous SAC defeat came at Wingate on Sept. 26. Catawba's Kelcie Love explded for a match-high 20 kills for the hosts.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: Catawba 3, Lenoir-Rhyne 1
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (19-7, 13-2 SAC), Catawba (8-10, 6-8 SAC)
Location: Goodman Arena
STATS OF THE MATCH:
- Catawba came right out and protected its home court with a 25-19 victory in the first set. LR would rally to even the contest with a 25-23 win in set two but Catawba closed it out with wins of 25-22 and 25-19 to earn the upset victory.
- Kathy Peter was LR's stand out in the losing effort, registering 16 kills and a .394 hitting percentage to go with four total blocks and six digs.
- Cheyenne Clonch was also strong for LR, finishing with 10 kills, no errors and a .500 hitting percentage to go with a pair of blocks.
- Aasia McNeill had 10 kills and 15 digs for the double-double and Lyndsie Warren led LR with 18 digs.
- Sydney Karjala had 44 assists in the match and tallied seven digs.
- Catawba had four players in double digits in kills. Behind Love's 20, Chloe Danielson recorded 13 kills and a .476 hitting percentage.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:
- The .242 hitting percentage by Catawba was the third-best total from any opponent this season.
- This ends LR's 12-game winning streak over the Indians.
- LR falls one game back of Wingate and in a second-place tie with Anderson.
- Two of LR's worst serving efforts came against Catawba. The 12 errors today is the third-most this year and the 15 in the prior matchup was the second most.
UP NEXT: LR will have little time to regroup as they travel to Anderson with second place on the line on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
