JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Trying to halt a four game losing streak, the Carson-Newman Eagles (9-13, 4-11) host the No. 9 Wingate Bulldogs (19-2, 15-0) Friday night and the Coker Cobras (3-20, 0-15) Saturday afternoon.

"Wingate is a very solid and consistent team," head coach Shannon Mincey said of the Bulldogs. "Our team is going to work on focusing on us and being who we are. The one thing that I look for against Wingate is for our team to be consistent and not allow a team that is ranked so high to rattle us."  

Carson-Newman dropped a pair of close matches last weekend to Newberry in five sets and Anderson (S.C.) in four sets. The Eagles held a 2-1 advantage against the Wolves, but could not finish. Junior outside hitters Rachel Harper (Chattanooga, Tenn.) and Lauren Santarelli (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and junior setter Kristen Pickett (Cleveland, Tenn.) all recorded double-doubles in the match.

After a slow start against the Trojans, Carson-Newman evened the match at a set a piece before dropping its seventh contest in eight attempts.

The Eagles will oppose each team for the second time this season beginning with a 7 p.m. first serve Friday evening against Wingate. The No. 9 team in the country has not lost since being swept by top ranked Concordia-St. Paul on September 8. The lone other loss for Wingate was to No. 20 Wayne State.

In the initial contest, the Bulldogs took a straight set victory 25-18, 29-27 and 25-22 in a match that Mincey called the most "unified" the team was all season.

Harper finished with 11 kills and 12 digs while senior right side Emily Schultz had 10 kills and two block assists.

While Wingate has won 15 straight, Coker has lost 18 in a row and has not tallied a road win this season. The Cobras last win came on September 7 against Point (Ga.) in four sets.

The Eagles defeated the Cobras 25-16, 25-19 and 25-15 in Hartsville, S.C. almost one month ago. Carson-Newman hit .286 for the match while holding Coker to a .050 hitting percentage.

As part of a balanced attack, Santarelli notched eight kills with Schultz adding four kills, two solo blocks and two block assists.

"October is a power through month," Mincey said of the stretch run. "It's a long month. The end is closing near. Now is the time to step it up a notch and really pull all of your chemistry together."

A live HD video stream of each game will be available for each match at cneagles.com/live with live stats. @CNathletics is the best place for the most current Carson-Newman athletic news.