Box Score HENDERSON, Tenn. - For the second straight year, the Freed-Hardeman Lady Lions owned the TranSouth Conference Volleyball Tournament.

FHU won its second consecutive conference title, and third in four years, going unbeaten throughout tournament play after putting an end to an impressive run by Bethel (Tenn.) University, 3-1, on Wednesday afternoon in the championship match.

Bethel was sent into the losers bracket on Tuesday morning after being swept by FHU, but the Lady Wildcats battled out with three straight wins including an upset of top-seeded Union on Wednesday morning to advance into the finals.

The Sports Center had proven to be a difficult place for visiting teams to win as FHU extended a 20-match home winning streak into this season. But that ended with the Lady Lions losing three matches on their home floor in 2010, perhaps making Smith-Kirk Court a less intimidating place to play.

But during the tournament, Freed-Hardeman returned to its home-court dominance by winning all four of its matches by a combined total of 12-3 while averaging 4.1 points per set more than its opposition.

However, it was Bethel that looked dominant as the championship match began as the Lady Wildcats kept their momentum from earlier in the day alive en route to a 25-19 set win. Bethel led by as many as nine points in the set while Freed-Hardeman struggled with seven attack errors.

That momentum continued into the second set as Bethel built a 10-5 lead but FHU slowly chipped away and eventually took control, tying the set at 11 before pulling away late by taking five of the final six points.

The Lady Lions stayed in control the rest of the way, taking advantage of a Bethel squad that was playing its fifth match in less than 36 hours coming out of the losers bracket. FHU never trailed in sets three and four, leading by as many as nine in the third and 11 in the fourth.

Freed-Hardeman got 20 kills from Fernanda Ferreira to go along with 15 from Sydney Rice and 10 from Sandra Montoya, who also led the team with 25 digs. Ferreira, meanwhile, had a total of eight blocks including four solo.

The Lady Lions receive an automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round to be played on Saturday, Nov. 20. Bids and matchups for the opening round will be released this weekend.