For the first time this season, the Lenoir-Rhyne Volleyball Team came out on the wrong end of a South Atlantic Conference match in a 3-0 defeat at No. 22 Wingate on Tuesday evening. The match wraps up a tough stretch that saw LR play in five games in a week.

The first set was a battle that saw Wingate eventually come out on top 26-24. Wingate scored eight of the first 11 in the frame and led by as much as 15-6. With LR trailing 22-16, the Bears scored five straight to pull within one at 22-21 and then evened the set at 24 before Wingate scored the final two. From there, the Bulldogs took control with wins by counts of 25-13 and 25-14 in the final two sets.

Kathy Peter had seven kills and Emmaleigh Allen, Sydney Karjala and Taylor Osborne all had four. Karjala added 17 assists and 14 digs and Lyndsie Warren added 12 digs. Sydney Morland led all players with 14 kills for the Bulldogs and Maggie Mullen had 20 digs.

The Bears 16 matches played to this point of the season are the most of any SAC team. LMU has played 15 and three other teams have played 14. Conversely, Limestone has only played nine.

LR, Wignate, Anderson and Tusculum all have one loss in league play. This was the third 3-0 loss for LR this year.

The Bears are still 11-5, 5-1 in the South Atlantic Conference. LR has their next match at home Tuesday against Newberry in the annual Dig Pink game. First serve is set for 6 p.m.