TAVARES, Fla. - Carson-Newman heads to Florida for the AVCA Small College Championships, beginning on Thursday, Apr. 14.
The Eagles earned the ten-seed, landing in Pool B with the two-seed Concordia-Irvine and the six-seed Saint Leo. Teams have been divided into four pools based on seasonal results through Sunday, April 10. Two of the pools will have three teams and two pools will have four teams as noted below. All teams will have two pool play matches on Thursday, Apr. 14.
On Friday, Apr. 15, the teams in Pool A and Pool B will play a Challenge Pool match. The Eagles will either face off against one-seed Tampa, five-seed Tusculum or nine-seed Florida Southern.
All teams will be assigned to challenge round play on the afternoon of Apr. 15 based on the results of pool play and challenge pool matches. Championship bracket play will begin on Saturday, Apr. 16. The four winners of Challenge Round matches 1 – 4 will advance to the Gold Bracket. The four losers of Challenge Round matches 1 – 4 will move to the Silver Bracket. The six teams that competed in Challenge Round matches 5 – 7 will compete in Bronze pool play. All teams will have two matches on Saturday. The Division II Champion will be the winner of the Gold bracket.
The Eagles have won a program record 14 matches this season, entering the tournament at 14-9. The convocation finished second at the second annual SAC Beach Challenge, going 2-1 with wins over Catawba and Lincoln Memorial. Lindsey Geurin became the first beach volleyball player in program history to win 30 matches in a career. The senior has a 15-7 record this season and a 30-17 record in her career.
"This year has been a historic season," says beach volleyball coach Cat Lind. "We had a strong foundation last year and we built upon it this season. The girls bought in and after working really hard all year, it's nice to see it pay off."
Carson-Newman is just 1-11 all-time at the AVCA Small College Championships, knocking off Principia at the 2019 event. Since then, the Eagles have dropped six straight matches at the event, including going 0-5 at last year's tournament.
"We know we haven't done well historically here," says Lind. "This will also be a tough challenge mentally and physically as we'll play at least five matches in three days and it'll be the warmest weather we've had all year after playing in the snow last week. Our girls will need to drink plenty of water, stay mentally fit and be prepared for anything."
C-N will face a tough test against Concordia-Irvine on Thursday, Apr. 14 at 9:00 A.M. The Screaming Eagles enter the tournament with a 19-3 record, their only losses being a 3-2 decision to Division-I Cal State Bakersfield and a doubleheader loss to no. 16 Pepperdine. UCI has earned wins this season over several Division-I programs, including Nebraska, Utah and San Jose State.
Concordia-Irvine is coached by Jenny Griffith, who holds a 33-13 career record in three seasons, the best winning percentage for a coach in the history of the Screaming Eagles program.
This will be the first matchup between the two convocations, and the most westerly team the orange and blue have ever faced in beach volleyball. Carson-Newman dropped a 3-2 decision to Colorado Mesa at the 2021 AVCA Small College Championships.
"This match will be a tough one to open the tournament," says Lind. "The way west coast teams play is very different than east coast teams. It'll be a challenge for sure, but us getting such an early start time may give us a slight advantage."
The Eagles wrap up the opening day of the tournament with a rematch against Saint Leo at noon. The Lions enter the tournament at 19-10 and on a three-match losing streak, going 0-3 at the Paradise Classic at Florida Atlantic, falling to the host Owls, Palm Beach Atlantic and FGCU.
Both squads faced off earlier this season at the Bear Beach Bash at Mercer University on Mar. 2, with the Lions winning 4-1. Piper Halcrow and McKenna Hall were the lone pair to record a win for the Eagles at the no. three position. Saint Leo holds a 2-0 series edge over Carson-Newman all-time.
"I'm excited for this rematch," says Lind. "Saint Leo is a very good team but now that we've seen them, we know we can adjust our lineup and try to change some things up this time."
Fans can follow along with live results of all of the matches at the AVCA Small College Championships here. Updates on the Carson-Newman beach volleyball team can be found at cneagles.com.
