HICKORY, N.C. - After putting together one of the longest winning streaks in the history of Newberry College volleyball the squad fell into a deep rut, losing seven straight matches. With a trip to North Carolina, the Wolves are looking to start out the final leg of the season by reclaiming their winning spirit that was with them for the majority of September. They took a step in the right direction on Friday by sweeping the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears, 25-19, 25-22, 25-20.

The Wolves began the match trading points with the Bears, with six ties through the first 14 points for the two teams. With the score 7-7, the Bears put together a small run to take a 10-8 lead. The Wolves had seen this happen too many times before during the past couple of weeks and decided to put a stop to the Bears attempt to take a 1-0 lead.

Lindsey Hollingsworth (Charleston, S.C.) recorded her sole kill of the match and was the catalyst of an 8-4 run which would put the scarlet and gray in control of the first set with an 18-15 score. The Bears would call timeout to try and salvage their composure but it was no use. The Bears committed three attack errors over the next five points and Samantha Parrish (Angola, Ind.) used three straight kills to effectively seal the set for the Wolves.

With the momentum, the Wolves stepped on the gas and charged through the second set. The visitors trailed twice in the set, but their deficit was never more than a point. The scoreboard read 18-18 when the Bears succumbed to another set of untimely errors that gave the Wolves four of their seven necessary points. Kills from Kara Harris (Grandview, Texas) and Parrish would prove the finishing touch in the second set, giving the Wolves a commanding 2-0 lead.

Hoping to close out the match as quickly as possible Newberry bolted out to a 5-1 lead courtesy of a service ace from Nadia Andrade (Belo Horizonte, Brazil), a Bear error and kills from Harris, Parrish and Anne Staudinger (Fort Wayne, Ind.).

The Bears didn't want to roll over on their home court and stormed back to even things up at nine. The teams would trade points and tie the score seven more times before a decisive Newberry run would end the match. Deadlocked at 17 Katie Davenport (Tyrone, Ga.) would record a kill and give things over to Harris who employed her exceptional service game to the tune of three straight service aces. A Lenoir-Rhyne attack error combined with a pair of Parrish kills and a block by Staudinger and Leah Nye (Hoover, Ala.) would wrap up the match.

Parrish finished with a match-high 15 kills and was just one dig away from a double-double.

Harris was the other primary offensive threat for the Wolves, racking up nine kills with 12 digs and five of the eight Newberry service aces.

Brianna Blakely (Houston, Texas) handed out 15 assists and had a kill and seven digs. Splitting time at setter with Blakely was Blair Browning (New Lexington, Ohio) who dispensed a match-high 17 helpers to go along with three digs.

The Wolves will look to go 2-0 in North Carolina as the travel to Brevard tomorrow to take on the Tornados. The match is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.