Beach Volleyball opens 2021 season at home with Saturday twin-bill

Posted: Mar 12, 2021

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - For the first time in 706 days, the Carson-Newman beach volleyball team will play in Mossy Creek.

The Eagles welcome second-year program Erskine College to the sand for a 10:00 AM contest on Saturday, Mar. 13, before facing off against rival Tusculum later in the day at 4:00 PM. The Pioneers and Flying Fleet will face off against each other on the friendly confines of the Carson-Newman beach courts between matchups against the Eagles at approximately 1:00 PM.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the capacity for the Carson-Newman sand courts has been capped at 25. Fans should bring their own seating. No visiting fans are permitted. MASKS MUST BE WORN OVER THE NOSE AND MOUTH AT ALL TIMES.

The last time the Eagles played a match in Jefferson City, the squad dropped a pair of matches to Stevenson and Lincoln Memorial on Apr. 7, 2019 by scores of 4-1 and 5-0. Morgan Siwiec and Grace Seymour were the only two members of the convocation to record a win, knocking off Stevenson's pair of Emily Castro and Caroline Dangel in three sets by scores of 21-18, 12-21, and 15-9.

The last win at home for the beach volleyball team was a 4-1 win over Eastern Kentucky on Mar. 31, 2019. Summer Coulter and Abby Struewing defeated Dena Tekavec and Jovana Bulatovic in straight sets, while Siwiec and Seymour defeated Sydney Schoen and K. Caserma-Kloeble also in straight sets. That match was part of a weekend where the Eagles went 2-2, knocking off EKU twice whilst falling to Tusculum twice. The Eagles knocked off the Colonels 5-0 and 4-1 while falling to the Pioneers 5-0 and then dropping the final match 3-2.

Carson-Newman enters the weekend 4-12 all-time at home. Six current members of the team roster have never played a regular season match at home.

"These girls have worked hard and it's going to be a tough weekend," says head coach Cat Lind. "With it being our first home match in such a long time, I think there's a lot of extra pressure and emotions before we get going on Saturday."

The Eagles are led by the pairs of Coulter and Megan Oldenburger and the pair of Mia Toribio and Abby Struewing. Both pairs finished 6-1 last season, en route to Carson-Newman finishing the shortened season 6-1, the squad's first ever winning record finish.

The group of Maddison Bishop and Lindsey Geurin finished 5-2, as did the pair of Joy Rhodes and Siwiec. Hayden Barton and Kelly Hughes finished 4-2, while Williams and Montgomery Sauter finished 2-0 in exhibition matches.

The Eagles will have four newcomers hoping to make their debut this weekend, with junior college transfer Pilar Daugherty and three freshman Alanis Mendez, Alyssa Johnson and Sierra Still suiting up for Carson-Newman this spring.

This weekend is also the first two matches for new head coach Cat Lind. Lind is the seventh different head coach in the history of the Carson-Newman Beach Volleyball program and is also an assistant for the Carson-Newman indoor volleyball team.

"All of our girls work so hard," says Lind. "I'm very impressed with our freshmen. They jumped right in despite having a lot of stuff on their shoulders. All of the girls have done a great job keeping each other accountable and pushing each other to the next level."

This is the first meeting between Erskine and Carson-Newman. The Flying Fleet enter the weekend after going 0-6 at the North Florida Invitational, falling to six Dvision One teams.

Their closest match was a 3-2 loss to Mercer. Morgan Browne and Olivia Browne took the win at the no. one spot, knocking off the Bears 13-21, 21-18, and 15-12. Allison Carter and Maisy Garner won at the no. five position, winning in straight sets 21-16, 21-16.

Carter and Garner lead the Fleet with two wins this season. Garner holds the school record for most wins at Erskine with four.

The Flying Fleet are coached by Rachel Brubaker in her second season.

"Rachel is a great coach and does a great job with them," says Lind. "I expect a lot of ball control especially with her younger athletes. We'll have to make sure our girls are ready for long rallies."

The Eagles are 0-8 all-time against schools from South Carolina, their last match a 5-0 loss to Coastal Carolina on March 24, 2019 in Wilmington, NC.

Tusculum enters the weekend at 2-0 following two 5-0 sweeps over St. Andrews in Greeneville. The Pioneers won every match in straight sets. The duo of Oliva O'Keefe and Charlyn Miller were dominate at the no. one postion, winning their first match 21-2 and 21-6 and their second match 21-8 and 21-9. Only the no. four position group from St. Andrews recorded at least one double-digit score in a set in both matches.

Tusculum leads the series against Carson-Newman 5-0. The two teams last met at the 2019 AVCA Small College Championships in Tavares, Fla. as the Pioneers knocked off the Eagles 4-1. The pair of Lauren Williams and Lexy Headley recorded the only victory for the Eagles at the no. four position.

"These girls want it and are very competitive," says Lind."We talk about creating a competitve atmosphere and they're hungry for it. It's a process but they've put in the work and our seniors have talked about it for awhile now and are ready for it."

The Pioneers are led by Jason Morris in his first season as head coach of the beach volleyball program. Morris is also an assistant with the Tusculum indoor squad.

Carson-Newman will head west Tuesday, Mar. 16 for a doubleheader against Chattanooga. The first match is scheduled to start at 5:00 PM.