HICKORY, N.C. --- Ashley Wells recorded 18
kills to lead the fifth-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne University volleyball
team to a 3-1 win over No. 4 seed Tusculum College Friday afternoon
in a quarterfinal match of the 2014 South Atlantic Conference
Tournament. Lenoir-Rhyne won the match by scores of 25-23, 11-25,
25-18, 25-15.
The three-day, single-elimination tournament is being held at L-R's
Shuford Memorial Gymnasium.
The Bears (22-8) avenge a pair of regular season losses to the Pioneers (16-15) to advance to Saturday's semifinal against top-seed and defending champion Wingate University.
The Tusculum duo of Laryssa Welch and Rachel Garnett recorded 11 kills apiece, while senior Megan Hasse posted eight kills and eight digs in her collegiate finale.
L-R's Haley Rhyne finished with 12 kills, while Brooke Redmond accounted for 11 kills, 14 digs and five blocks in the victory.
The opening set went back and forth early as Tusculum took a 10-9 lead following a kill from Garnett. The Bears answered with five straight points, including a pair of kills by Wells to lead 14-10. L-R led 19-15, but Tusculum put together a 4-1 spurt to trim the deficit to 20-19. The Bears led 24-21, but Tusculum fought off a pair of set points thanks to a Danae Stauffer kill and a L-R ball handling error to trail by one (24-23). But L-R would secure the first set with a Wells' kill to win the opening frame 25-23.
Tusculum dominated the second set from start to finish as the Pioneers scored the first three points and never looked back. TC raced out to a 7-1 lead and used a 9-0 run later in the set to win the second frame 25-11. Tusculum hit .355, while limiting the Bears to a -.067 hitting percentage.
The Bears captured the third set 25-18 as L-R closed out the frame with a 7-1 spurt, including the final four points to take a 2-1 lead in the match. Wells paced the Bears with seven kills in the third, while Redmond added five kills and eight digs, defensively.
The fourth set had seven ties including the final one at 14-14 following a Welch kill. But the Bears would catch fire and closed out the match with an 11-1 run to win the set 25-15.
Lenoir-Rhyne finished the match with a .226 hitting percentage, while Tusculum hit .175 in the contest.
Defensively, TC sophomore Moriah Jones led all players with 21 digs, while freshman Shannon Murphy accounted for 27 assists, 16 digs and a match-high five service aces, including four in the second set for the Pioneers.
Hasse caps off an outstanding playing career at Tusculum and finishes ranked in the top-10 in six statistical categories, including: 1,140 kills (4th), 2.75 kills per set (6th), 3,644 attempts (2nd), 149 service aces (2nd), 0.36 service aces per set (3rd) and 415 sets played (10th). The two-time All-South Atlantic Conference standout finished her senior year averaging 3.30 kills per set, which is the seventh best single season average in program history.
- TC -
