Box score
HICKORY, N.C. -
Despite a match-high 16 kills from Anderson freshman Shannon
Gillespie, the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears held off AU, 3-1 (23-25, 25-23,
25-15, 25-22) in South Atlantic Conference volleyball action Friday
night at Shuford Memorial Gymnasium.
With the win,
Lenoir-Rhyne (6-4, 1-1 SAC) has claimed three of its last four
contests, while Anderson slipped to 3-8 overall and 1-1 in league
play.
The two teams
traded narrow wins in the first two sets, with the Trojans turning
a 9-7 edge into a 17-12 advantage by taking advantage of miscues by
the Bears. But Lenoir-Rhyne ran off four consecutive points and
chipped away to pull within 22-21 late in the frame, but AU
withstood the rally and held on for the win as freshman Hailey
Pittman notched the final point with one of her seven kills on the
night.
L-R reversed the
score in the second set, going on an early surge to gain an 8-3
lead. Trailing, 21-16, the Trojans reeled off five consecutive
points to rally and knot the score for just the third time, but the
Bears countered with three unanswered points of their own to regain
the edge and hold on for the win.
The third set saw
Lenoir-Rhyne take advantage of AU errors and jump out to a quick
3-0 lead before the Trojans pulled even at 5-5. Lenoir-Rhyne called
a timeout and went on an 8-0 spurt to reclaim the edge, forcing
Anderson to call a timeout. But the Bears slowly built a
double-digit lead and took the frame.
AU again
capitalized on Lenoir-Rhyne errors to gain the upper hand in the
fourth set, pushing out to a 10-5 lead, before the Bears bounced
back on the strength of a 14-6 run to claim a brief three-point
cushion. But the Trojans refused to surrender, as they answered
with a 6-4 outburst of their own to pull within just one, at 23-22,
but the Bears held on for the hard-fought win.
Gillespie added 14
digs on the night for her second career double-double, while
Pittman and Joy Hiller each added seven kills. Setter Meghan
Cautero recorded a match-high 33 assists, while Alix Hooker posted
a match-best 19 digs. With her six blocks on the night, junior
Tiffany Rowe moved into ninth place on the school's all-time blocks
list.
Anderson visits
Brevard Saturday afternoon for a 2 p.m. first-serve versus the
Tornados.