NEWBERRY, S.C. - The Newberry college volleyball team completed its first rotation of South Atlantic Conference matches with a trip to Hickory, N.C., to face the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears. Newberry evened their conference record with a 3-0 sweep of the Bears and now looks to improve as they move forward to the second rotation. Newberry College (14-9, 4-4 SAC) defeated Lenoir-Rhyne (14-9, 2-6 SAC) in three sets by scores of 25-18, 25-13, 25-20.

The key to Newberry's success was defense. Newberry's Texas trio paced the scarlet and gray as team leaders for digs. Brianna Blakely (Houston, Texas) led the way with 18 digs, followed by Kara Harris (Grandview, Texas) with 13 and Kember Lichtie (Amarillo, Texas) with 11. Fernanda Frey (Sao Paulo, Brazil) had 11 as well.

Lorena Maia (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) tallied 5 service aces for Newberry, more than any player for either team.

Newberry hosts Brevard on Tuesday, October 7, in Eleazer Arena. The match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.