HICKORY, N.C. – Junior
Chanel Turner registered a team-high 17 kills to go along with 16 digs to lead the Queens University of Charlotte women's volleyball team to a 3-1 (25-23, 22-25, 25-15, 26-24) victory over previously unbeaten Lenoir-Rhyne University inside Shuford Gymnasium.
The Royals (4-1, 1-0 SAC) picked up the win in their conference opener by holding the Bears (5-1, 1-1 SAC) to a .119 hitting mark, their second lowest performance of the season. Junior
JayCee Jones aided the effort with a team-high 20 digs, while sophomore
Brooke Farley and junior
Jordan Proszenyak finished with 17 and 12 digs, respectively.
Queens opened up an early 6-2 lead in the first set of play behind back-to-back kills from Turner and senior
Mallory Swarts.
The lead grew to as large as a six-point margin at 18-12 following a double block by Swarts and junior
Logan Witt, but the Bears went on a 7-1 run to even the score at 19-all. Queens took advantage of three Lenoir-Rhyne errors late in the frame to build a1-0 match lead.
The second set again saw Queens hold an early lead, but a 14-2 run by Lenoir-Rhyne broke the game wide open. Despite being down by eight points late in the frame, Proszenyak sparked a run of seven unanswered points to cut the LR led to just one point. However, consecutive kills ended the rally and led to a Bears victory, tying the match score.
Queens took control in the third set, hitting .270 as a team and holding Lenoir-Rhyne to a .056 mark in taking a 2-1 advantage in the match. The fourth and final set saw a total of 17 ties and seven lead changes as back-to-back kills from freshman
Anna McLain and Proszenyak ended the match with the Royals in front.
McLain tallied 12 kills and four total blocks, while Proszenyak followed with nine kills of her own. Witt contributed eight kills and five total blocks at the net as Swarts matched a career-high with 54 assists to go along with nine digs.
The Royals remain on the road as they travel to Mars Hill, N.C. tomorrow to take on Mars Hill University at 5 p.m. Live stats and video for the match will be provide by the MHU Athletic Department.
