SALISBURY, N.C. — The fourth-seeded Carson-Newman volleyball team held off fifth-seeded Catawba, 3-2 (24-26, 27-25, 25-23, 18-25, 17-15), on Friday afternoon in the first round of the 2010 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament at Goodman Gym.

With the win, the Lady Eagles (19-9) advance to the semifinals and will face top-seeded and four-time defending tournament champion Wingate (26-1) at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. Catawba falls to 14-13 overall.

Senior Carly Mozgai (Greensboro, N.C.) tallied a career-high 29 kills and added eight digs and three blocks to lead C-N, while junior Nikki James (Cookeville, Tenn.) contributed 21 kills, 10 digs and eight blocks. Junior Carly Swisher (Fort Collins, Colo.) chipped in 10 kills and seven blocks in the win.

Senior Lara McDonald (Salem, Va.) distributed a career-high 59 assists and had 13 digs for the Lady Eagles, while Angelle Hayes (Brentwood, Tenn.) finished with 26 digs.

Kaitlyn Whitmer paced Catawba with 27 kills and 11 digs, while Shay Meeks chipped in 18 kills. Jordan Raye dished out 53 assists and had 16 digs for the Indians, and Jenny Young recorded 27 digs.

C-N held a 22-16 lead in the first set, but the Indians went on a 10-2 run to claim a 26-24 win.

After edging past Catawba 27-25 in the second set to tie the match, the Lady Eagles used a .333 hitting percentage in the third set to win 25-23. The Indians took a 23-22 lead on a kill by Emily Richardson, but C-N closed out the set with three straight points, including a kill by Mozgai and a block by Swisher and James.

Catawba built a 20-14 lead in the fourth set on its way to winning, 25-18, on a kill by Taylor Doss.

The Lady Eagles faced elimination in the fifth set, trailing the Indians, 14-12. However, C-N scored five out of the final six points, including two kills by Mozgai, to win the match.