HICKORY, N.C. – Hitting the road again in league action, the Anderson University volleyball team dropped a toughly contested decision to Lenoir-Rhyne, 3-1 in Hickory on Tuesday, September 19.
"Unfortunately, we came up a bit short on the road against a solid L-R team tonight," said head coach Todd Hay. "However, we definitely learned a lot as a team and will work hard to improve our mindset and skill set going forward. Looking forward to a great atmosphere Friday night in Abney."
The Trojans swung for a .221 clip on the evening, though errors would cost them throughout the evening, giving away 36 points by way of the error. Senior Tabitha Wheeler (Greenville, S.C.) led the team with 14 kills on the night while fellow seniors Jaelyn Grimm (Cedar Park, Texas) and Sadie Kluner (Venice, Fla.) were each able to tally double digits as well. Three Trojans eclipse the double-digit standard for digs on the night, led by sophomore Savannah Cox (Simpsonville, S.C.) with 19.
The first set of the evening would start off with a quick four-point rally from Lenoir-Rhyne, giving them the early lead. Anderson was able to catch up to that mark quickly though as they brought the match level at eight. A six-point run from the Trojans gave them their first lead of the set and they would not relinquish it again throughout the remainder, taking the opening set 25-20.
Set number two started out in a similar fashion with L-R jumping out to the 3-0 lead. This time however it would be the Bears who would extend their lead, leading by as much as five points on multiple occasions. The Trojans continued to battle back throughout the set, bringing the margin to just two multiple times but were unable to break through the potent L-R offense as they dropped the second set, 25-19.
The third set was a copy-and-paste of the second as the Bears opened up the early lead, putting it quickly out of the reach of the Trojans. However, Anderson this time was able to close the gap to just a single point at 19-18, giving them life late in the set. However, that was followed by three straight points for L-R just three more points for the Trojans throughout the remainder of the set as they dropped the third, 25-21.
Anderson would take the early lead in a set for the first time all evening as they started with a 2-0 lead and further extended it to 9-5. Again, L-R fought back to bring the set to within one point, but Anderson rallied back every time, keeping a three-point advantage until 19-16. L-R rallied off three straight points to tie up the set and the two teams traded back points until the Bears were able to rally two points together, taking the set 25-23.
Anderson returns home on Friday, September 22 for a Blackout Game against Wingate in the Abney Athletic Center. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m.
