CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Queens University of Charlotte volleyball team tallied their first loss in five matches, falling to Lenoir-Rhyne 3-1 on Tuesday, November 08, 2016. The match saw a score of 25-23, 23-25, 25-21, 25-22 go to the Bears who moved to 11-17 overall and 9-12 in the South Atlantic Conference. The Royals would drop to an overall record of 19-7 in addition to moving to 16-5 in conference play.

Rebecca Cochran tallied 15 kills in the match to lead the team in addition to tabbing 18 digs for a double-double. Mallory Swarts tabbed three service aces while Taylor Henry and Alex Thompson equaled at six blocks apiece. Megan Mancini led the team in digs with 25.

Emily Steele led the Bears in three statistical categories finding 16 kills and three service aces while tying for top with Jaclyn Denny with four blocks. Jillian Born led the team in digs with 26.

Despite a 3-0 start, Lenoir-Rhyne battled back to take the next five points to move ahead 5-3 early in the set. As the two teams swapped points, Queens finally found a slight lead at 15-11. After a timeout call by Lenoir-Rhyne, the Royals continued to provide pressure adding three more to the score to make it an 18-11 game. Momentum started a slow shift toward the Bears who eventually found the tying point at 22-22. The set closed on a 3-0 run.

An even start to the second set had both teams hold close through 17 points. Queens managed to take a slight lead but Lenoir-Rhyne again equaled the score at 23-23. It was the Royals, however, who found the run coming out of the tie with kills from Cochran and Thompson to claim the set and even the match.

The pressure to take the lead had both teams battling early for set three. It was an 8-0 run, however, that gave Lenoir-Rhyne enough of a lead to take the set and move ahead in the match.  

 Needing to find a win, Queens pushed for a lead early in the fourth set finding one at 7-4. Lenoir-Rhyne recaptured control off of four unanswered points to make it 11-9. The Bears tabbed another moving the score to 16-11 game as Queens fought to stay in the match. Driving, the Royals came back to close the gap, meeting the Bears with a 21-21 score. Despite the run, the Royals would fall shy as Lenoir-Rhyne closed out the game.

The Royals will head to Newberry, S.C., this Friday to meet the Wolves. The match is set to begin at 7 p.m.