HICKORY, N.C. -- On the second day of the Bears weekend tournament inside Shuford Arena, LR swept Mount Olive in the morning and defeated USC Aiken in a five-set thriller in the night cap. LR finished the weekend with a 3-1 record.
Emmaleigh Allen had 29 kills while
Sydney Karjala had 53 assists on the day. The Bears will now prepare for their conference opener on Tuesday.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final Match One: Lenoir-Rhyne 3, Mount Olive 0
Final Match Two: Lenoir-Rhyne 3, USC Aiken 2
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (3-1), Mount Olive (1-2), USC Aiken (2-1)
Location: Shuford Arena
STATS OF THE MATCH ONE:
- The Bears scored the last five points of the first set as LR jumped out to a 6-1 lead to cruise to a 25-13 win in the opening set.
- LR then led wire-to-wire in the second set for a 25-19 win and completed their second straight sweep with the same 25-19 score in the final set.
- Kathy Peter paced the Bears with 13 kills and a .722 hitting % in the three sets.
- Emmaleigh Allen had 12 more kills to bring her weekend total to 35 in the three games. Allen added a team high 16 digs as well.
- Bears had eight block assists with two each from Peter, Rachel Wildermuth, Cheyenne Clonch and Taylor Osborne. Peter and Clonch each added a block solo to their totals.
- Karjala had her second straight double-double with 19 assists and 11 digs.
STATS OF THE MATCH TWO:
- Set one went to the Pacers as USC Aiken stormed out to a 7-2 lead. The Bears cut the lead to 22-20 but USC Aiken scored the last three points for a 25-20 win.
- In set two, USC Aiken had control with a 21-17 lead but the Bears went on a 5-0 run to take a late lead and needed three extra points to even the game at one with a 28-26 win.
- After getting down 2-0 in the third set, the Bears scored seven straight point as LR controlled the third set with a 25-18 win. The Pacers then held on to the fourth set with a 25-23 win before LR won the deciding fifth set 15-10 to earn the victory after Allen's 29th kill of the day to wrap up the win.
- Lyndsie Warren had a career-high 27 digs as Warren was one of five Bears with double digits digs.
- Aasia McNeill had a double-double with 14 kills and 13 digs.
- Parker stuffed the box score with 10 kills, seven digs and seven blocks (two solo).
- Karjela had 34 assists while Wildermuth added 21.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:
- Bears are now 9-0 against Mount Olive,
- Today was the first match up against the Trojans since 2018.
- This was the first USC Aiken has traveled to Hickory since 2006.
- Bears will travel to Aiken next weekend for the Pacers Tournament. LR went 1-1 last year in Aiken, beating Barton but losing to the host Pacers.
- Allen's 16 digs in game one tied her career high. Allen had 16 against Tusculum last year.
- Allen had 52 kills this weekend and currently leads the SAC after the first weekend of action.
UP NEXT: Bears will open SAC play on Tuesday with a trip to Coker. First serve is at 7:00 PM.