LEBANON, Tenn. - The Freed-Hardeman Lady Lion volleyball team made short work of its two opponents on the first day of the Cumberland University Invitational, defeating the University of Rio Grande (Ohio) 3-1 and sweeping Kentucky Christian University in straight sets.

FHU (7-6) took control against Rio Grande in the third set after the first two sets were split in close affairs (25-23, 22-25). The Lady Lions jumped ahead early and continued to expand their lead, going up by as many as 11 points before taking a 25-18 win.

The fourth set was tightly contested, tied at 17-17 before FHU rolled off three straight points to take control. URG took the next two rallies to narrow the gap to one point, but the Lady Lions responded again with four straight points and went on to a 25-20 win to close out the match.

In the sweep over KCU (25-17, 25-22, 25-18), Freed-Hardeman dominated the first and third sets and came from behind in the second. Trailing by four points late in the second set at 22-18, FHU took seven straight rallies getting kills from Daymari Brito, Mikaela Powers and Renata Ferreira along with a double-block by Brito and Powers to fuel the comeback.

Three straight kills by Brito in the third set helped the Lady Lions build a seven-point cushion, and from there they cruised to the sweep.

FHU had a balanced attack against URG with four players recording double-digits in kills - Brito with 14 and 10 each for Ferreira, Allie Moss and Kara England. Brito (14 kills, 16 digs) and Ferreira (10 kills, 42 assists) both had double-doubles. Amanda Cunningham led the front-row defense with six total blocks (two solo, four assisted).

Brito again led the attack in the win over KCU with 13 kills, the only player with 10-plus kills for either squad. Hannah Claiborne and Michelle Bennett each had 10 digs.

The Lady Lions finish off the tournament on Saturday with matches against Tennessee Temple at 1:00 PM and host Cumberland (Tenn.) University at 3:00 PM.