VIDEO: Sights and Sounds
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. -- Kicking off the first beach volleyball tournament to be hosted by Carson-Newman, the Eagles picked up a win in the second-flight but it was not enough to overcome Huntingdon, falling 4-1 on Friday morning at the C-N Sand Courts.
This marks the Eagles (0-2) second-straight 4-1 loss of the season and their first-ever loss to the Hawks (3-7).
The No. 5 position started the day as Gabrielle Bailey (Pompano Beach, Fla.) and Micah Palmer (White Pine, Tenn.) fell in a short two sets, leaving the scores at 21-9 and 21-3 in advantage of Huntingdon's Amy Tyma and Kaitlyn Carter.
Three of the five matches saw the teams battle to three-set tiebreakers along with the opening extension match. Catherine Cook (Morristown, Tenn.) and Lexy Headley (Sharps Chapel, Tenn.) handed the first set over to the Hawks' duo of Margaret Rhodes and Alex Hillman, 21-15. The C-N tandem came back with an exciting second set finishing 21-9 but fell in the third 15-3.
The No. 4 pairing of Micah Depetro (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Abby Struewing (Lebanon, Ohio) grabbed the first set with the score resulting in a 21-14 before Addison Genard and Cheyenne Scarbrough came back with a 21-19 victory in the second set to send the match into a tie-breaker. The third set was a teeter-tottering fight for both pairings, but the Hawks kept momentum on their side with a 13-15 point finish, putting their team up 2-0.
In the third-seeded face-off, Montgomery Sauter (Columbia, S.C.) and Aryana Fazelnia (Weston, Fla.) looked strong in the opening set with a 21-14 advantage. Lexie DeVuyst and Shelby McAllister answered with a 21-19 second set decision, forcing the pairs into a third set. With both team's battling, Sauter and Fazelnia ended up holding the 15-12 benefit, cutting the deficit to 2-1 on the day as the final flight took the courts.
Sitting on top at No. 1 for C-N, Morgan Harlan (Ladera Ranch, Calif.) and Kelly Hughes (Woodbridge, Va.) tumbled in back-to-back sets to Emily Fedonczak and Nichole LeFevre, 21-13 and 21-16, cementing the Hawks' win at 3-1.
A hard-fought battle began at the No. 2 seed with Summer Coulter (El Paso, Texas) and Grace Seymour (Hudson, Fla.) winning the first set, 21-13. Bria Rochelle and Alexis Creasman would not go down quietly as they Huntingdon pair took a 21-16 second set victory that led to a 15-10 C-N loss in the third, closing out the day.
The Eagles return to the courts tomorrow for the final day of the two-day tournament. They will face Austin Peay at the C-N Sand Courts beginning at 1:30 p.m. Live scoring will be available on cneagles.com/livestats.
