Interview: Kirby Toribio
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn.—For the first time in program history, the Carson-Newman beach volleyball team will host a match at the Carson-Newman Sand Courts as the squad welcomes Lincoln Memorial to Mossy Creek for a pair of dual matches beginning at 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.
"We are really excited. This has been a dream of ours to host a match ever since we started the program," assistant coach Kirby Toribio said. "We were unable to in our first year, but this year we are able to host and we are all so excited for this first match. I think it is going to go well. We are ready."
The Eagles (5-8) are coming off a four-match losing streak as a result of their latest outing at the Gamecock Invitational on March 26 and 27. Prior to the tournament, Carson-Newman sported a 5-4 record on the year but fell to Division I powerhouses Jacksonville State, Alabama Birmingham, Texas Christian and South Carolina.
LMU (3-13) is coming off a loss of its own against Spring Hill on April 3 as the Railsplitters lost 1-4 in the dual match. Coached by Jenny Michael, LMU is competing in its first year of the beach program and fields a roster full of seven upperclassmen and six underclassmen.
The three wins LMU has accounted for in the 2016 beach season has come against Webber International 3-2 (March 22), Eckerd 3-2 (March 26) and Jacksonville State 4-1 (April 2).
During the indoor campaign this past fall, the Eagles and the Railsplitters split in two contests. Carson-Newman took the first meeting at home on Sept. 3-2 while LMU got the better of the Eagles later in the season on its home court 3-0 on Oct. 27.
"I think we are more excited that they have a program and that we can both support each other. We can continue to encourage each other to persevere in starting a new program that can come with difficulties a lot of the times," Toribio said. "I think it is neat that they are kind of on the same page as us in using the beach program to make our team better for indoor. One way we can encourage them is to have the opportunity to play them and travel together to another tournament later this year."
After sitting out the first half of the season, Maddie Borch (Walnut Creek, Calif.) came on strong for the Eagles in her first action on the year at the Gamecock Invitational. Teaming up with senior Molly Locke (College Grove, Tenn.) as the squad's No. 2 pairing, the duo produced the only team-points for the Eagles against Jacksonville State, UAB and TCU and wrapped up the tournament with a 3-1 record.
"Maddie Borch has been a great player for us. Together, she and Molly Locke have just kind of clicked," Toribio said. "They have used their strengths to string together some really good things for us. Maddie, specifically, brings a lot of power to the game in both indoor and to the beach court. Her power is really hard to defend so that is one great thing she brings to the table for us."
Stay up to date with live stats during Carson-Newman's dual matches against LMU on Saturday by logging onto cnlivestats.com. A full recap of the day can also be found on cneagles.com following the conclusion of the second dual match.
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