Eagles to kick off beach season at Stetson Tournament

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Posted: Mar 03, 2016

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn.—The Carson-Newman beach volleyball team will begin its second year of the program this weekend in the Sunshine State with a pair of duals matches on Friday and Saturday at the Stetson Sand Tournament in Deland, Fla.

The Eagles will kick the season off Friday morning at 10:30 am with a contest against Tulane and will take the courts again hours later against Missouri Baptist at 3:00 p.m. Saturday's action for Carson-Newman will begin at 11:30 a.m. with a clash with Spring Hill and will again return to play in the afternoon around 2:30 p.m. against Eckerd.

All four teams the Eagles will be squaring off against on the weekend will be competing for the first time this season.

Tulane will be the lone Division I program Carson-Newman will be playing in the Stetson Tournament as the Pelicans begin their fifth season of competition slated as the No. 18 team in the nation by DiG Magazine's NCAA Beach Volleyball Preseason Poll. Tulane is coming off an 18-10 record in 2015.

Much like C-N a season ago, Missouri Baptist will be enduring its inaugural season for the beach program during 2016. The Spartans are currently one of four NAIA programs to have the varsity sport and are the only ones representing the Midwest region of the United States.

Spring Hill competed as a provisional member of the NCAA's Division II sector in 2015. The Badgers will be looking to improve upon a 4-13 record a season ago starting with the 2016 season beginning at the Stetson Sand Tournament.

One of Carson-Newman's two wins from the 2015 campaign came against Division II's only other program a season ago. After falling 3-2 in match one against Eckerd on April 6 a year ago, the Eagles rallied to take match two on the day by sweeping the Tritons 5-0. Eckerd finished season one of its beach program with a 2-7 overall record.

Five Eagle pairings were able to string together dual victories a season ago led by Taylor Lowe (Franklin, Tenn.) with a 3-8 record while spending time as a part of the team's No. 3 duo for most of the season.

Senior Sara Fairley (Charlotte, N.C.) will also be back for her final season wearing a Carson-Newman uniform. Along with former C-N player Kristen Pickett, Fairley notched three wins in the second-best paring a season ago.

Another notable returner who picked up wins during dual play a season ago is Kristina Hill (Lake Orion, Mich.). Then, the junior Hill linked up with former Eagle Lauren Santarelli to pick up a win at the No. 2 paring in 2015.

Junior Eileen Anderson (Pittstown, N.J.) is the only other returner who will be suiting up in 2016 that was on the roster during the program's first slate of contests a season ago.

C-N welcomes a heap of newcomers to the squad this season that look to help the program in its continued growth in its second season.

Katie Will (Clearwater, Fla.) and Ally King (Cincinnati, Ohio) saw limited action this past fall during indoor slate, but the duo was primarily brought to Mossy Creek for beach purposes. The freshmen will be looking to make a big splash this season in their first year in the program.

Other notable addition to the 2016 beach squad include All-Southeast Region indoor selectee Molly Locke (College Grove, Tenn.) and freshmen Allie Foster (Johnson City, Tenn.),Natalie Harris (Monroe, N.C.), Megan Morris (Mount Pleasant, S.C.), Hanna Robertson (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) and Maddie Zyburt (Plainfield, Ill.).

A full recap following each day of action can be found on cneagles.com. Stay up to date on all of Carson-Newman's beach action this season by following the squad on twitter at @CNVolleyball.

Stetson Sand Tournament Weekend Schedule

Fri. Mar. 4 Stetson vs. Missouri Baptist 9:00 AM

Fri. Mar. 4 Tulane vs. Carson-Newman 10:30 AM

Fri. Mar. 4 Spring Hill vs. Missouri Baptist 4:00 PM

Fri. Mar. 4 Stetson vs. Tulane 1:30 PM

Fri. Mar. 4 Missouri Baptist vs. Carson-Newman 3:00 PM

Fri. Mar. 4 Stetson vs. Spring Hill 4:30 PM

Sat. Mar. 5 Eckerd vs. Spring Hill 8:30 AM

Sat. Mar. 5 UNC Wilmington vs. Missouri Baptist 10:00 AM

Sat. Mar. 5 Carson Newman vs. Spring Hill 11:30 AM

Sat. Mar. 5 Tulane vs. College of Charleston 1:00 PM

Sat. Mar. 5 Eckerd vs. Carson-Newman 2:30 PM