JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - The Carson-Newman beach volleyball team wraps up the regular season with four matches in two days.
The Eagles will first host St. Andrews in Mossy Creek on Wednesday, Mar. 31 for a pair of matches against the Knights, the first beginning at 11:00 AM. Senior day festivities will also be held before the first match at 10:30 AM.
"This senior group is the staple of this program" says head coach Cat Lind. "I don't know where this team would be without this group. They hold us together and are the foundation of this team and I'm excited we can honor them."
Carson-Newman then heads back to the Palmetto State for the second time in five days for a pair of matches against Erskine College in Due West on Thursday, Apr. 1. The first match begins at 1:00 PM.
The Eagles are in the midst of their first losing streak since 2019 after falling in two straight matches to Coastal Carolina on Sunday, Mar. 28. Lindsey Guerin and Mia Toribio were the only pair to take the Chants to three sets, winning the first set 21-19 before losing the final two sets 22-20 and 15-12.
Pilar Daugherty saw her first beach volleyball action of her career as her and Alanis Mendez dropped the exhibition match 21-19 and 21-11.
"It was encouraging for me to know that our team can play at a higher level," says Lind. "We need to focus more on execution and how to have better responses to situations."
Entering the week, Guerin and Toribio and the pair of Abby Struewing and Sierra Still lead the team with a 3-3 record. Piper Halcrow and Alyssa Johnson are 3-2 in exhibition matches, but sit at 0-1 at the no. five position.
St. Andrews enters the match with an 0-4 record in their first season of play. The Knights have won one game all season, as the pair of Kylie Santos and Bailey Zivitski won their match over Southeastern 21-13 and 22-20 in a 4-1 loss to the Flames.
Carson-Newman is 0-2 all-time agianst teams from North Carolina, with both losses coming to UNCW. Their last match was a 5-0 loss to the Seahawks in 2018. The Eagles are 0-7 in the state of North Carolina, their last time playing in the Tar Heel State was in 2019, losing three matches at the Wilmington Dig and Dive Invitational to Tusculum, Morehead State, and Coastal Carolina.
Erskine enters the match with a 1-11 record, earning their first program win on Mar. 20 over Liberty. The Flying Fleet are also coming off a pair of 5-0 losses to Coastal Carolina.
The Eagles lead the all-time series 1-0, earning the win in the first match of the season 3-2 after Streuwing and Still rallied after going down 15-21 after the first set to Emily Gilbert and Marissa Possenriede to win set two 21-19. The pair started the third set up 6-3 and went on a 6-0 run and never looked back, winning the final set 15-7 and closing out the match with a 3-2 victory.
Carson-Newman is just 1-10 all-time against the Sandlappers, and are 0-25 when playing in the Palmetto State.
"I have very high expectations of us," says Lind. "We need to stay in a competitive mindset against St. Andrews. Against Erskine we're going to look a little different than in our first match. Our girls are very prepared and when they're prepared they execute well and play well."
The Eagles will take the next two weeks off to prepare for the AVCA Small College Championships in Tavares, Fla. beginning on Apr. 16.
