Volleyball eyes season sweep of Mars Hill

Volleyball eyes season sweep of Mars Hill

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Coming off of a road win at Brevard on Saturday, the Carson-Newman Eagles (9-9, 4-7) travel to Mars Hill (9-6, 7-4) to take on the Lions Tuesday night at 7 p.m.

In the victory against the Tornados, Carson-Newman hit a season-best .440 surpassing its previous high of .303 in a four set triumph over Catawba on October 4.

Junior outside hitter Rachel Harper (Chattanooga, Tenn.) tallied 14 kills and ten digs, her tenth double-double of the season. Harper clubbed a season-high .619 hitting percentage besting her previous high of .440 in the second game of the campaign against UNC Pembroke.

Harper continues to rank first in the South Atlantic Conference with 245 kills this season and places third in kills per set with 3.83. The junior is second in the league with 0.45 aces per set and leads the conference with 29 total aces.

Junior setter Kristen Pickett (Cleveland, Tenn.) is averaging 10.63 assists per set raising her season total to 9.18, third in the SAC.

The meeting with Mars Hill will be the second time Carson-Newman plays the Lions this season. The Eagles took home a straight set victory on September 17. In the contest, Carson-Newman hit .245 with 11 service aces.

Harper compiled 11 kills and 12 digs in addition to four service aces. Pickett set a new career-high with seven kills while hitting .600 for the match. The junior also had 30 assists and five digs.

Mars Hill has lost two of its last three matches, but the Lions have won seven of nine games since the first meeting between the two schools.

As a unit, Mars Hill leads the South Atlantic Conference with 18.26 digs per set, but is sixth in the conference in hitting percentage at a .195 clip.

Senior outside hitter Marissa Wixson ranks third in the SAC in kills with 216 and fourth in kills per set with 3.79. Senior libero Maggie Murphy is second the league in digs per set with 5.33 as she has racked up 304 total digs this season, third among SAC players.

Live stats are available for the match by clicking here with a live video feed here. Follow @CNathletics on Twitter for the most current Eagle content.