The match was a meeting of the top two liberos in the South Atlantic Conference in Carson-Newman's Angelle Hayes (Brentwood, Tenn.) and Tusculum's Caitlyn Dean. 

The Eagles offense hit around Dean in the first two sets – limiting the junior to eight digs, but Dean exploded for 17 digs over the final two sets to finish with 25 and keep the Pioneers in system.

Tusculum pulled the same move on Hayes, holding her to 19 digs.  Both liberos were held to a dig under their season averages. 

"Both teams respected the other's libero," C-N head coach Shannon Mincey said. "It was hard for Angelle to not be involved.  But our hitters found (Dean) in the third and fourth sets.  We hit at her and hit at her.  They produced kills off of her digs."

The Pioneers hit .220 for the third set and .333 for the fourth while holding Carson-Newman to a .093 and .025 attack percentage for the third and fourth sets, respectively. 

"Lauren Santarelli (Colorado Springs, Colo.) had an off night (with four kills and a -.080 attack percentage) and it shook our team a little bit because she's someone we depend on," Mincey said. "Tusculum ran their offense well, I don't think our defense did a poor job, our hitters just didn't want to put the ball away tonight."

Rachel Harper (Chattanooga, Tenn.) had a match high 16 kills to go along with nine digs.  Emily Schultz (Atlanta, Ga.) just missed out on her first double-double in a C-N uniform with a career high 16 digs and nine kills. 

The Eagles turn around in two days to face the Brevard Tornadoes on the road Thursday night at 6:30. 

"This is not a team to take lightly," Mincey said. "We're fighting to get to the conference tournament.  I don't feel like we're hanging our heads."

A crowd of 550 attended the Dig Pink match in support of a cure for breast cancer awareness.

"That's the most important thing," Mincey said. "I know we lost, but there are a lot of people out there who have lost their lives to breast cancer.  We were playing for that (cause) tonight."

Proceeds from the match went to support a cure for breast cancer.