JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The first sand volleyball season in Carson-Newman history sends the Eagles to Columbia, S.C. to play six matches over a three-day span beginning with an 11:30 start Friday morning against No. 20 Tulane (6-3) in the Gamecock Inviational.
All six opponents for the Eagles this weekend are Division I foes as the team will play two duals each day. Friday concludes with a 3 p.m. tilt with the host No. 14 South Carolina (5-2). No. 23 UAB (1-2) and Arizona State (1-2) are on the docket for Saturday with the contests beginning at 8:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. respectively. The weekend concludes with a 1:15 p.m. start against No. 6 Florida State (3-3) and a 4:45 match against No. 8 Georgia State (8-1).
While much of the second semester has been filled with snow and cold weather, the last week has allowed the Eagles to get outside and get prepared for their first weekend.
"This week has been great weather-wise," Carson-Newman coach Dan Ahiers said. "Even when it hasn't been great, we have still been out there in the sand. What's really nice is that we've been able to go down to the K2 complex in Knoxville so when the girls get out of class we get to play."
Each dual will see teams of two battle in individual best of three-sets to 21 point contests. The school to win at least three of the two-on-two games will be awarded the victory. While coaches will be on the sidelines, there is not as much interaction between the players as the Carson-Newman staff.
"It's a much more cerebral game," Ahiers said. "They have to learn to think for themselves. They've got to learn to make adjustments in game because while I'll be there and [assistant coach] Kirby [Ellis] will be there as coaches. They can only talk to us at certain times, during timeouts, during transition in between sets. I love that aspect of the game because their knowledge is really growing."
With two top-10 teams according the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll on the schedule this weekend, the Eagles will focus on themselves rather than getting consumed with the high-major talents on the other side of the net.
"It's like the indoor season," Ahiers said. "We worry less about the opponents and more about ourselves finding team chemistry, playing our brand of volleyball instead of playing someone else's brand of volleyball and working on the things that make us better instead of worrying about them."
Follow @CNathletics and @CarsonNewmanVB on Twitter to stay current with the results during the day and visit cneagles.com following the final match of the to get a full rundown of the sand volleyball program's first weekend of competition.
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