HENDERSON, Tenn. - A young team taking on a veteran team is usually a difficult matchup for the young team, and that proved to be the case as Bethel (Tenn.) University spoiled the home opener for the Freed-Hardeman Lady Lions with a 3-0 sweep (27-25, 25-16, 25-11) on Thursday night in the Brewer Sports Center.

The first set was tightly contested with 19 ties, the last coming at 25-25 when an Allie Moss kill knotted the set. Bethel (5-8, 3-0), though, took the next two points on FHU attack errors.

Errors would continue to plague the Lady Lions throughout the match as FHU had 25 attack errors on the night as well as four service errors, three ball-handling errors and three service reception errors. Bethel totalled just 21 errors on the night.

The Lady Wildcats pulled away early in the two final sets, building a large enough cushion that Freed-Hardeman could not overcome. Three kills by Fernanda Ferreira in four rallies helped FHU pull back to 18-13 in the second set but could get no closer as Bethel won 25-16. Bethel then jumped out to a 11-2 lead in the third set and never let up.

Ferreira had a match-high 12 kills for Freed-Hardeman to go along with 10 digs. Callie West had 11 digs.

FHU has to regroup quickly as it heads to the Cumberland University Classic in Lebanon, Tenn., for two matches on Friday and two on Saturday.