HICKORY, N.C. --- The Lenoir-Rhyne University volleyball team recorded 14 team blocks in leading the Bears to a 3-1 South Atlantic Conference win over visiting Tusculum College Tuesday night at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium. LR (5-11, 3-6 SAC) won by scores of 25-21, 18-25, 25-22, 25-16 to complete the season sweep over the Pioneers (7-7, 4-6 SAC).
Tusculum recorded 31 hitting errors in the match with 14 coming via block as the Bears finished with four solo blocks and 20 assisted stops. Lenoir-Rhyne's Abbie Stacherski and Jaclyn Denny finished with six blocks each, while Emily Steele tallied five to go along with her 11 kills and a .370 hitting percentage.
The Tusculum duo of Laryssa Welch and Rachel Garnett accounted for 11 kills apiece, while Aubrey Hawkins finished with 10 kills on the night. Shannon Murphy dished out 35 assists and had two service aces, while Hallie Zumack distributed 18 helpers with a pair of digs. Defensively, Melissa Mazur tallied 36 of the team's 75 digs, while Sarah Bouley and Megan Yopko tallied 13 and 11 digs, respectively.
In the opening set, the home team jumped out to a 10-4 utilizing a 6-0 run including back-to-back kills from Katrina Samuels and two kills from Emily Steele. After a TC timeout, the Pioneers bounced back and went on an 11-5 run to tie the score at 15-15 sparked by a service ace and a solo block from Welch. Tusculum took a 17-16 lead, but the Bears scored five unanswered to take a 21-17 and would eventually win the set 25-21.
The second was a tight contest, featuring 11 ties and four lead changes with the last coming at 16-16. Tusculum would use a 9-2 run to close out the frame and win 25-18. TC hit .333 for the set and were sparked by four kills each from Welch, Garnett and Hawkins.
Tusculum carried the momentum into the third set taking an early 4-1 lead following a Bouley ace. LR followed with a 7-4 run to tie the frame at 8-8. There would be four more ties in the frame, including 13-13 after a bad set by the Pioneers. LR erupted for a 5-1 run to take an 18-14 advantage. TC fought three set points, but the Bears prevailed 25-22 to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Lenoir-Rhyne never trailed in the fourth set as the Bears hit for a sizzling .455 with 17 kills in 33 attempts and only two errors as LR closed out the match with a 25-16 win in the final frame.
Lenoir-Rhyne finished with a .261 team attack percentage with 49 assists on their 54 kills. Tusculum posted a .157 hitting percentage with 56 assists on its 56 kills.
The Pioneers return home Friday to being a six-match home-stand beginning with Friday night's 7 p.m. SAC match against Coker College.
