GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Brooke Redmond recorded a double-double with 15 kills and 10 digs to lead the Lenoir-Rhyne volleyball team to a 3-1 South Atlantic Conference win over host Tusculum Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Arena. The Bears (4-7, 2-2 SAC) won by scores of 25-15, 25-16, 15-25, 26-24.
L-R's Emily Steele added 13 kills and three blocks while posting a .480 hitting percentage (13-1-25). Ashley Markland added 20 digs while setter Jessica Funk also tallied a double-double with 39 assists and 11 digs.
Tusculum's Laryssa Welch finished hit .680 for the match as she had 18 kills and one error in her 25 attack attempts. The .680 hitting percentage is the third-highest in school history (20 or more attempts).
TC's Aubrey Hawkins accounted for 10 kills, while the setter duo of Shannon Murphy and Hallie Zumack dished out 27 and 25 assists, respectively. Defensively, Melissa Mazur finished with 26 digs, while Kayli Dempster added a dozen in the loss for the Pioneers (5-3, 2-2 SAC).
L-R posted a .381 hitting percentage in the opening set sparked by four from Redmond and three from Jaclyn Denny. Trailing 12-10, the Bears went on an 8-1 run capped off by back-to-back kills from Redmonds as L-R led 18-13. Following a Welch kills, the Lenoir-Rhyne closed out the frame with a 7-1 spark to win the first set 25-15.
In the second set, Redmond recorded five kills and an ace as the Bears won the frame 25-16. L-R broke a 5-5 tie and went on a 13-2 run to take a 16-7 lead en route to a 25-16 win.
The Pioneers cut match deficit in half by winning the third set 25-15. Trailing 15-13, Tusculum closed out the frame with a 12-0 run on Mazur's serve as TC hit .341 in the set, including five kills on six attempts from Welch. Hawkins added four kills in the set, while Rachel Garnett contributed three.
In the fourth set, the Bears jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and never trailed in the frame, but had to hold off a furious Tusculum rally as L-R prevailed 26-24 to secure the match. Lenoir-Rhyne led 20-16 after a Samantha Bishop kill. But TC would inch its way back and got kills from Garnett and Hawkins to tie the score at 24-24. But a kill from Steele and a TC attack error on match point sealed the victory for the Bears.
Lenoir-Rhyne finished the match hitting .231 as a team with 48 kills, 15 errors and 143 total attacks. Tusculum hit .194 as a team with 57 kills, 26 errors and 160 attacks for the contest. The Bears totaled seven blocks on the day, while the Pioneers finished with three. L-R also posted five service aces, including a pair by Redmond, while the Pioneers got one ace from Zumack. Defensively, TC accounted for 68 digs while Lenoir-Rhyne recorded 60 digs for the visitors.
Tusculum returns to action this Friday night when they host Queens University of Charlotte for a 7 p.m. conference match at Pioneer Arena.
