ROCK HILL, S.C. - For the second straight year the Lenoir-Rhyne volleyball team is in the SAC Championship, and for the second straight year they had to beat Anderson in five sets to get there. 

This time it was in reverse sweep fashion, as the Bears came down from 2-0 to book their ticket to the championship. Emmie Modlin led the way with her fourth triple double of the season, tallying 29 assists, 15 digs, and 13 kills. 

INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: Lenoir-Rhyne 3, Anderson 2 (16-25, 18-25, 25-21, 25-23, 15-10)
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (22-6, 14-4 SAC), Anderson (21-7, 15-3 SAC)
Location: Rock Hill, S.C. | Rock Hill Sports and Events Center

STORY OF THE MATCH: 

• Anderson came out and took it to the Bears, winning the first two sets 25-16 and 25-18.
• The Bears flipped the script in set three, hitting .545 in the set to stay alive.
• The fourth set began with a 4-0 Bears run, which was then followed by a 7-0 Anderson run.
• The teams settled in and Anderson took a late 23-22 lead.
• The Bears forced three Trojan attack errors to close the set, capping it off with an Emmie Modlin block.
• Down 8-7 in the fifth and final set, Lenoir-Rhyne swung the momentum their way with two kills, an ace, and two blocks.
• Emmaleigh Allen capped off the reverse sweep with her team leading 16th kill of the day.

STATS OF THE GAME:

• Emmaleigh Allen (16), Averie Dale (16), Emmie Modlin (13), and Kayli Cleaver (10) finished in double figures for blocks.
• Modlin finished with 29 assists while freshman Alicia Barbarito had 26. 
• Four Bears finished in double figures for digs, led by Hadley Prince's 22.
• Lenoir-Rhyne hit .251 for the game, compared to .264 for Anderson. 

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• This was Lenoir-Rhyne's first reverse sweep since defeating Limestone 3-2 in 2022. 
• The Bears will appear in back-to-back SAC tournament championship games for the first time in program history. 
• The last three SAC Tournament games between Lenoir-Rhyne and Anderson (21, 24, 25) have all ended in five set victories for the Bears.
• Averie Dale brought up her season attack percentage to .421. 
• Emmie Modlin's triple double gives her four on the season, tying her for fourth in the country. 

UP NEXT: Lenoir-Rhyne will face off against #1 seeded Wingate in the SAC Championship tomorrow. The Bulldogs swept Carson-Newman 3-0 earlier today to book their ticket to the championship. First serve is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.