On the second day of the Bears weekend tournament inside Shuford Arena, LR swept Mount Olive in the morning and defeated USC Aiken in a five-set thriller in the night cap. LR finished the weekend with a 3-1 record. Emmaleigh Allen had 29 kills while Sydney Karjala had 53 assists on the day. The Bears will now prepare for their conference opener on Tuesday.

In the 3-0 sweep over Mount Olive, the Bears scored the last five points of the first set as LR jumped out to a 6-1 lead to cruise to a 25-13 win in the opening set. LR then led wire-to-wire in the second set for a 25-19 win and completed their second straight sweep with the same 25-19 score in the final set.

Kathy Peter paced the Bears with 13 kills and a .722 hitting % in the three sets.

Emmaleigh Allen had 12 more kills to bring her weekend total to 35 in the three games. Allen added a team high 16 digs as well.

The Bears had eight block assists with two each from Peter, Rachel Wildermuth, Cheyenne Clonch and Taylor Osborne. Peter and Clonch each added a block solo to their totals.

Karjala had her second straight double-double with 19 assists and 11 digs.

In the 3-2 win over USC-Aiken, set one went to the Pacers as USC Aiken stormed out to a 7-2 lead. The Bears cut the lead to 22-20 but USC Aiken scored the last three points for a 25-20 win.

In set two, USC Aiken had control with a 21-17 lead but the Bears went on a 5-0 run to take a late lead and needed three extra points to even the game at one with a 28-26 win.

After getting down 2-0 in the third set, the Bears scored seven straight point as LR controlled the third set with a 25-18 win. The Pacers then held on to the fourth set with a 25-23 win before LR won the deciding fifth set 15-10 to earn the victory after Allen’s 29th kill of the day to wrap up the win.

Lyndsie Warren had a career-high 27 digs as Warren was one of five Bears with double digits digs. Aasia McNeill had a double-double with 14 kills and 13 digs.

Parker stuffed the box score with 10 kills, seven digs and seven blocks (two solo). Karjela had 34 assists while Wildermuth added 21.

The Bears are now 9-0 against Mount Olive, This was the first match up against the Trojans since 2018. This was the first USC Aiken has traveled to Hickory since 2006.

The Bears will travel to Aiken next weekend for the Pacers Tournament. LR went 1-1 last year in Aiken, beating Barton but losing to the host Pacers. Allen’s 16 digs in game one tied her career high. Allen had 16 against Tusculum last year. Allen had 52 kills this weekend and currently leads the SAC after the first weekend of action.

Lenoir-Rhyne is 3-1 on the season. The Bears will open SAC play on Tuesday with a trip to Coker. First serve is at 7:00 PM.