Volleyball Falls to Lenoir-Rhyne

MARS HILL, N.C. - The Mars Hill volleyball team dropped a 3-1 decision to Lenoir-Rhyne on Friday night in a South Atlantic Conference match at Stanford Arena. The Lions won the opening set 25-21 before the visitors won 25-16, 26-24 and 25-18 to claim the match. Lenoir-Rhyne improves to 11-4 on the season and 5-3 in the league while Mars Hill falls to 4-10 and 3-4.

Lauren Hochstetler led the Lion attack with 11 kills, followed by Rebecca Butler and Mary Kate Griffin with 10 kills each. Butler and Christen Nicholson each had two aces, with Sara Fahrenbrook, Victoria Kaiser and Griffin each having an ace. Nicholson led the Lions with 15 digs, followed by Butler with 10 and Hochstetler with nine.

Brooke Redmond led the Bears with 21 kills and had 12 digs for a double-double. Ashley Markland had two aces. Briana Gottberg led the Lenoir-Rhyne defense with 15 digs, with Markland contributing 13.

Mars Hill pulled out to a 5-1 lead in set one and led from start to finish, fending off a late Lenoir-Rhyne charge for an opening set victory. Lenoir-Rhyne enjoyed an early 8-1 lead in the second set and led by as many as 13, 20-7, en route to a 25-16 second set victory to tie the match.

The third set featured six ties as neither team enjoyed more than a five point advantage. Mars Hill led 7-2 early before the Bears rallied to tie the set at 12. Mars Hill answered with a 7-3 run for a 20-15 advantage before three kills and three Lion errors gave Lenoir-Rhyne a 21-20 lead. The teams traded the next five points before a Redmond kill gave the Bears a 24-23 lead. Mars Hill answered with a Griffin kill but saw the Bears win the set following an attack error and a kill.

Lenoir-Rhyne raced out to a 6-1 and hit a match-high .409 to win the fourth set and the match.

The Lions host Brevard tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m.