JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman beach volleyball team opened its season with a 4-1 loss at the hands of Lincoln Memorial in a 4-1 decision on Saturday afternoon at the C-N Sand Courts.
The Eagles (0-1) now trail in the series' all-time record 4-3. The LMU win marks four-straight wins over C-N since April 8, 2017.
"I'm happy about how we played," head coach Kody DuBarry said. "We played tough. The biggest thing for me, as I told them this morning was to just go out, have fun and play hard, and I think they did that."
The Railsplitters (1-0) swept all four of the opening matches with straight-set decisions against the youthful Eagles' squad.
The No. 5 match opened the day as Gabrielle Bailey (Pompano Beach, Fla.) and Micah Palmer (White Pine, Tenn.) got the Eagles out on the right foot with two-consecutive 21-16 set wins over Tone Gill and Danielle Stachura to put C-N up 1-0, the only lead DuBarry's team saw for the remainder of the afternoon.
"(Bailey and Palmer) played great. Probably the best they have played all year," DuBarry assessed of the duo. "I hadn't seen them play that way in practice against each other, but I guess that is what happens when you come out and play against somebody else."
The sixth-seeded extension face-off saw Lauren Williams (Carrollton, Ga.) and Lexie Acevedo (Newport, Tenn.) fall in the first set 13-21 before defeating Kayla Kidney and Shyanne Tallman in the second set, 21-15, to force a third-set tiebreaker. The 'Splitters' duo took the final set with a 15-10 decision.
At the No. 3 spot, Montgomery Sauter (Columbia, S.C.) and Aryana Fazelnia (Weston, Fla.) fell to Erica Whiteaker and Rylee Storms in tough sets, 21-12 and 21-10, tying the match at one.
C-N's fourth-seed duo of Micah Depetro (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Abby Struewing (Lebanon, Ohio) could not withstand Beka Wachob and Sarah Jones, dropping the first set 21-16 before the second set fell in favor of LMU, 21-12.
"They had some moments of brilliance, but, for them, I think it's just their lack of experience right now," DuBarry mentioned. "They're going to keep growing and keep getting better."
LMU's No. 2 duo of Abby Cash and Lindsey Nartker also saw tough competition in Summer Coulter (El Paso, Texas) and Grace Seymour (Hudson, Fla.), especially in the first set with the Eagles battling in a 21-18 loss that gave way to another 'Splitters back-to-back set win, 21-11.
At the top-seeded spot, Morgan Harlan (Ladera Ranch, Calif.) and Kelly Hughes (Woodbridge, Va.) provided a strong battle but ultimately fell to Danielle Ged and Hailey Lake in 21-18 and 21-19 decisions to close out the day.
The Eagles return to action on March 23 to face Huntingdon as a part of a home two-day tournament hosted by Carson-Newman. That match is set to begin at noon that day at the C-N Sand Courts.
