JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Following the first-ever beach volleyball tournament to be held at the C-N Sand Courts, the Eagles prepare to hit the road for their first matches away from Mossy Creek, heading to Wilmington, N.C. for the Dig & Dive Invitational hosted by UNC Wilmington on Friday and Saturday.

Carson-Newman (0-3) has yet to see a win this season. The most recent loss came at the hands of Austin Peay as the Governors closed out C-N's tournament with a 5-0 shutout of the host team.

This two-day tournament will also mark the second-straight for the team.

"Having two days of competition last week will definitely help the girls to be ready to play multiple matches but this weekend is going to be a total learning experience to play as many matches as we're going to play against really good competition," head coach Kody Dubarry said. "The girls are going to kind of see what we're trying to do and who we're trying to be."

Four other teams will make the trek to Wilmington for the event hosted by the Division I team including fellow D-I teams College of Charleston and North Florida along with NAIA teams Missouri Baptist and Webber International.

"(Playing teams like these) definitely makes you better, no matter what. If you play against the best, you're going to have to learn how to beat the best and you're going to get better in that regard," DuBarry mentioned. "This is our first road trip as a team and the first road trip for all of these freshmen girls so they're going to get learn a lot.

"There's going to be some growing pains and rough times, which is fantastic because that's what we always talk about – you have to learn from trial and errors and your mistakes, so this is going to be an all-around good weekend."

The Eagles will start their time in the event with a Friday morning meeting with the hosting Seahawks beginning at 11:30 a.m.

UNCW (10-7) comes into the event after a 3-2 loss to TCU in its last match at the Gamecock Challenge where the Seahawks went 2-2 with wins over Florida Gulf Coast and UAB but dropped their opening match to Hawaii in a 5-0 shutout.

At the No. 1 spot, the duo of Maddy Kline and Nicole Lott has gone 11-6 this season and currently ride a three-match winning streak.

The Seahawks and Eagles faced off just once before in 2016 at the Palmetto Invitational with UNCW taking a 3-2 win in the match.

Late Friday afternoon, C-N will take on North Florida for the first time in program history.

The Ospreys (9-6) hail from the Division I ASUN Conference and are looking to extend a four-match winning streak while at the Invitational.

Carina Hoff and Courtney Miller have been relied upon the most at the top-seeded position on the team with a 6-6 record.

C-N gets the event started on Saturday morning with a match against Webber International.

The Warriors (5-9) concluded a dual doubleheader on Wednesday with a 3-2 win over Lincoln Memorial and a 3-2 loss to Saint Leo.

This will be the third meeting between the Eagles and Warriors as C-N holds a 2-0 advantage in the series. The last match between the two came in 2016 as the Eagles took a 4-1 decision to win.

The Spartans of Missouri Baptist (4-2) will be the last opponent for the Eagles during their time in Wilmington.

The Spartans have been over two weeks removed from the courts with their last match being a 5-0 shutout of Principia College back on March 13.

C-N and Missouri Baptist have competed another one another twice in each programs' history. The Eagles hold a 2-0 lead in the series, the most recent meeting ending in a 4-1 C-N victory at the Governors Beach Duals in Franklin, Tenn.

The Dig & Dive Invitational will span over two days, totaling 12 duals being played. Full recaps and results will be available on cneagles.com at the conclusion of each day.