In a battle for second place in the South Atlantic Conference standings, Lenoir-Rhyne fell to Anderson in three sets. With the loss, LR drops a game behind Anderson with just two matches left to play.

A hotly contested first set went the way of the hosts by a final score of 25-22. Anderson hit .310 and the Bears registered a .325 hitting percentage in the frame but it was a late run by the Trojans to seal the win. The set was even at 21 but Anderson scored four of the final five points to jump up 1-0. The Anderson defense stepped up in the final two sets, holding LR to an .083 hitting percentage in the second set and a -.029 mark in the finale. The Bears combined for 14 errors in the final two sets.

In her return to the lineup, Emmaleigh Allen paced LR with nine kills and added eight digs. Cheyenne Clonch had seven kills and hit .462 with a trio of blocks. Aasia McNeill had 16 digs and Lyndsie Warren added 10. Sydney Karjala recorded 21 assists and five digs.

Anderson held a 47-31 edge in kills and 58-47 lead in digs. The Bears had the upperhand in blocks with a 9-5 advantage. Kaitlyn Barrett was the only player in double figures in kills on the night, leading Anderson with 10. The Trojans had five different players with at least seven kills.

This evens the season series between the programs. LR won the first match on Sept. 19, 3-1. LR had won 12 straight before dropping back-to-back matches to fall two spots in the league standings. The Bears are now 7-5 on the road this year.

The Bears are 19-8 overall, 13-3 in the South Atlantic Conference. LR will have another big match on Saturday as they host Tusculum at 5:30 p.m. The Bears are one game up in the loss column on Tusculum and the winner of Saturday’s match will have the inside track of the number three seed in the SAC Tournament.