HICKORY, N.C. -- The Lenoir-Rhyne Volleyball Team earned the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament and is set to host No. 5 Carson-Newman in the SAC Quarterfinals tonight at 7 p.m.
Tickets
For conference tournament games, there will be a charge for tickets. Pricing is as follows: $5 for adults, $3 for military and seniors and $2 for students
The Bears (20-9) are hosting a SAC Quarterfinal match for the third straight season. The Bears and Eagles met on October 20 in Hickory with LR taking a 3-0 win in the only head-to-head meeting between the two this year. This will be the 79th all-time meeting between LR and C-N with the teams splitting 32 games in Hickory.
The matchup will feature the top two kill leaders in the conference. Carson-Newman's Julia Wheeler paces the league with 409 kills and the Bears
Emmaleigh Allen is second with 350 despite missing some time. In the October 20th contest, Wheeler had a small edge over Allen in kills 16-14 but the Bears took the three-set win.
Kathy Peter has been a force in her first year in Hickory and ranks 13th in the nation and first in the league with her 120 blocks. Peter has earned a trio of SAC Defensive Player of the Week awards.
Aasia McNeill and
Sydney Karjala have also been stellar in their first season with the Bears. McNeill is second on the team with 257 kills and digs with 343. Karjala has a good argument for the league's Freshman of the Year has stepped in and has 896 assists and 326 digs.
Carson-Newman (14-16) have struggled on the road to the tune of a 3-10 record and they hit .040 worse on the road than they do at home. The Eagles enter play ranked second in the conference in total attacks and team digs but struggle on the block as they rank 10th in the SAC in blocks per set.
The winner of Lenoir-Rhyne and Carson-Newman will face the winner of top seed Wingate and No. 8 seed Mars Hill on Wednesday in the SAC Semifinal.
