HICKORY, N.C.-- The Bears closed out their opening weekend with a bang, winning 3-1 and 3-0 over Mount Olive and Florida Tech on Saturday. The highlight of the day came in the second set against Florida Tech when the Bears scored 10 straight points to turn a 22-14 deficit into a 24-14 advantage. 

The Bears have now won three straight to start the year for the second consecutive season.

INSIDE THE MATCHUPS:
Final Match One: Lenoir-Rhyne 3, Mount Olive 1 (25-22, 25-20, 26-28, 25-19)
Final Match Two: Lenoir-Rhyne 3, Florida Tech 0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-11)
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (3-0), Mount Olive (0-2), Florida Tech (2-1)
Location: Shuford Arena I Hickory, N.C.

STATS VS MOUNT OLIVE:

• The first set was back and forth battle and was tied at ten a piece before the Bears scored three straight to take a 13-10 lead. LR maintained that lead and took the first set 25-22. 
• An early 5-0 run in the second set gave the Bears an early lead. Back-to-back aces from Alicia Barbarito highlighted a late run that gave the Bears a 25-20 second set victory.
• The Bears dropped their first set of the year in the third set as Mount Olive squeaked by with a 28-26 win, fending off five LR match points.
• LR opened a 10-3 lead in the fourth set and after the Trojans cut the lead to 21-19, the Bears finished the match with four set points, including a pair of aces from Averie Dale.
• Kayli Cleaver had 14 kills while freshman Addison Vary had 11 to pace the Bears to their second win of the season.
• After having ten double digit blocks in a game last year, LR had their first of 2025 with ten blocks. Hallie Brown finished with seven blocks herself.

STATS VS FLORIDA TECH:

• Averie Dale had seven of the Bears 15 kills in the opening set as LR pulled away to win the first set 25-20. Hallie Brown and Kayli Cleaver ended the set with a monster block.
• Lenoir-Rhyne was resilient in the second set, igniting the crowd with a 10-point rally to take a late 24-22 lead and eventually win the set.
• The Bears dominated set three, hitting .361 in the set to earn the sweep.
• Averie Dale led the team with 12 kills on a .667 hitting percentage. 
• Alicia Barbarito paced the Bears with 22 assists while Hadley Prince led with 21 digs. Hallie Brown had six blocks to bring her total to 14 on the weekend. 

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• Bears remain perfect against Mount Olive, moving their record to 11-0 all-time.
• This was the first time Lenoir-Rhyne played Florida Tech since the 2008 season. 
• Brooke Aeschliman had a career high 17 digs against Mount Olive.
• Kayli Cleaver now has 367 kills in her short career as a Bear.
• Averie Dale is hitting at a .512 clip on the season.

UP NEXT: The Bears will host Shaw inside the Shu on Tuesday night. First serve is scheduled for 7:00 PM.