JOELTON, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman beach volleyball team lost a pair of matches to LMU 5-0, and Spring Hill 4-1, on the first day of the Austin Peay Tournament.
"Today was a rough day in the win, loss column," Carson-Newman beach volleyball coach Kyle Peck said. "But we have shown noticeable improvements, unfortunately those don't show up on the stat sheet."
Carson-Newman (2-6) faced Lincoln Memorial for a third and final time this season in the first match of the afternoon and then faced Spring Hill College in the second match of the day. The tandem of Taylor Lowe (Franklin, Tenn.) and Anna Patton (Franklin, Tenn.) picked up the lone win of the day for the Eagles.
MATCH ONE: LMU 5, C-N 0
In the first match of the afternoon Carson-Newman faced-off against a familiar foe in Lincoln Memorial on Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately for the Eagles it was the same result as the previous two matchups against the Railsplitters a loss, this time around the Eagles fell 5-0.
The No. 1 pairing for the Eagles gave the Railsplitters everything they had. The tandem of Lowe and Patton took the first set 23-21 from LMU's Abby Cash and Jamie Jehne. In the second set the Cash and Jehne picked-up a 21-12 victory forcing a winner take all third set. The final set was a back-and-forth affair that saw Cash and Jehne come away with a 15-8 victory.
In the second match of the afternoon the No. 2 pairing of Allie Foster (Johnson City, Tenn.) and Kendall Cooley (Castle Rock, Colo.) played a tight two-set match against Samantha Cash and Danielle Ged. Foster and Cooley fell in the first set 21-17 and in the second set 21-15. This was the first time that Foster and Cooley had teamed up this season.
Alex Biro (Ooltewah, Tenn.) and Hannah Robertson (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) made up the Eagles No. 3 pairing and showed great effort against the team of Brooke Fleeman and Bristol Snider. The tandem of Fleeman and Snider took the first 21-7, but the Eagles attempted a comeback in the second set that came up just short with a 21-15 loss.
The No. 4 pairing of Eileen Anderson (Pittstown, N.J.) and Marnie Streeter (Goldvine, Va.) played a very tight and competitive match against Kiera Holland and Lindsey Nartker. Anderson and Streeter dropped the first set 21-15 and the second set 21-13, giving LMU a 4-0 lead over the Eagles.
Eagles assistant coach Erin Harwood teamed up with Elena Vasquez (Riverside, Calif.) for the exhibition match. The duo faced off against the Railsplitters Erica Whiteaker and Beka Wachob. Whiteaker and Wachob took both sets winning 21-15 and 21-16.
MATCH TWO: Spring Hill 4, C-N 1
The Eagles No.1 pair of Lowe and Patton played another exciting three set match. It is the pairings third consecutive match that went to three sets. The tandem won the first set 27-25, but dropped the second set 25-13. The duo surged back in the final set to win 15-9, giving the Eagles an early 1-0 lead.
The duo of Foster and Cooley were unable to gain momentum in the No. 2 match as Molly Griffin and Savannah Becnel won 21-12 and 21-15. The team of Anderson and Streeter moved up to the No. 3 position for the second match of the evening. The tandem went serve-for-serve with the team of Brittany Bilotti and Sarah Senft, but were unable to close out the first set falling 21-19. In the second set Bilotti and Senft won 21-14, giving Spring Hill a 2-1 lead over the Eagles.
In the No. 4 match the pairing of Biro and Robertson lost in straight sets 21-10 and 21-13 to the tandem of Hannah Masoner and Caroline Herrera. Once again the No. 5 match for the Eagles was an exhibition match played by Vasquez and Harwood. The duo went up against Catherine Milwee and Taylor Hurst. Milwee and Hurst won in straight sets 21-10 and 21-12.
"We are excited to play two more matches tomorrow and hopefully get some revenge on Austin Peay, we lost a close one to them about a month ago," Peck said.
The Carson-Newman beach volleyball team will be back in action on Sunday against Austin Peay at 11 a.m.
