HICKORY, N.C. - Lenoir-Rhyne fought off a hard nosed Tusculum squad to win 3-0 and advance to Friday's SAC semi-finals in Rock Hill.
Kayli Cleaver led the way with 15 kills while
Emmie Modlin nearly notched a triple double with 24 assists, 12 digs, and seven kills.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: Lenoir-Rhyne 3, Tusculum 0 (25-20, 27-25, 25-22)
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (21-6, 14-4 SAC), Tusculum (9-16, 7-11 SAC)
Location: Hickory, N.C. I Shuford Arena
STORY OF THE MATCH:
- Averie Dale opened the match with a kill to help propel the Bears to a quick 8-2 lead.
- Tusculum used multiple small runs to keep it close, cutting the lead to 19-18 late.
- An Emmie Modlin kill silenced the Tusculum faithful and Kayli Cleaver closed it out with a kill a few points later.
- The second set saw Tusculum take it to the Bears early, eventually taking a 19-15 lead.
- A Rachael Chambers kill ignited an 8-2 run from Lenoir-Rhyne to take a two-point lead.
- The Pioneers fought back but two consecutive attack errors gave Lenoir-Rhyhe the win.
- Tusculum didn't go out easy, forcing an early Lenoir-Rhyne timeout after going up 8-1 in set three.
- They held a 16-9 lead before a 10-1 run from the Bears turned the game on it's head.
- A service error from Tusculum ended their season and sent the Bears to the SAC semis.
- Kayli Cleaver hit .412 while Averie Dale had 13 kills on a .684 hitting percentage.
- Emmie Modlin and Alicia Barbarito combined for 39 assists.
- Hadley Prince led with 14 digs while Averie Dale was tops with six blocks.
- As a team the Bears hit .333, their fifth highest mark of the season.
- Tusculum hit .225, the fifth highest mark against the Bears all year.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:
- The Bears set a new program record with 13 home victories this season, surpassing the mark of 12 set two years ago.
- This was the second consecutive season the Bears and Pioneers have faced off in the SAC opening round.
- This is the third consecutive season Lenoir-Rhyne has advanced out of the SAC opening round.
- Averie Dale bumped up her season hitting percentage to .418, which puts her at sixth in the country and second in the SAC.
UP NEXT: Lenoir-Rhyne will now take on No. 2 seeded Anderson on Friday at 7:00 p.m. The game will take place at the Rock Hill Sports and Events Center in Rock Hill, S.C. The Trojans took down Mars Hill 3-1 earlier this evening to book their ticket to the semis. The winner of Friday's match faces the winner of Carson-Newman/Wingate on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. in the championship.