GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – With their 14^th South Atlantic Conference victory, the Carson-Newman Eagles (19-4, 14-1 SAC) set a new program record in league wins after defeating the Tusculum Pioneers (10-13, 9-6 SAC) Tuesday night 25-20, 19-25, 25-19 and 25-18 at Pioneer Arena.

The win marks the first time since 2009 that the Eagles defeated Tusculum twice in the same season and took a match at Pioneer Arena.

"Tusculum had a very good gameplan against us tonight," head coach Dan Ahiers said. "Our team did a very good job of making in-game adjustments. Our team really wanted to beat Tusculum at their house and they weren't going to let anything stand in the way." 

The Eagles captures the first four points of the first set and never relinquished the lead using a 7-0 run to gain separation before a kill by senior middle blocker Jenna Wilson (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) ended the set with a kill. Junior outside hitter Sara Fairley (Charlotte, N.C.) led the way with four kills.

Carson-Newman fell behind early in the second stanza that featured eight ties and four lead changes, but was able to knot the score at 12 before Tusculum won 10 of the next 12 rallies to put the Eagles in a 22-14 hole. Senior setter Kristen Pickett (Cleveland, Tenn.) had nine assists and seven digs in the set.

Ahiers' group fell behind 12-10 before using a 6-1 run to capture control of the frame. A kill from junior middle blocker Kiayna O'Neal (Katy, Texas) finished the set in favor of the Eagles. Senior outside hitter Lauren Santarelli (Colorado Springs, Colo.) had five kills in as many attempts.

In the fourth set, the score was deadlocked at nine before Carson-Newman used a 9-0 to gain control before taking the match on a service error.

Senior outside hitter Rachel Harper (Chattanooga, Tenn.) tallied a season-high 17 kills for the seventh time this year while matching a season-best with 23 digs for her eighth double-double of the year.

Pickett notched her ninth double-double of the season with 40 assists and 14 digs.

Wilson had 10 kills, six block assists and a solo block while Santarelli had 11 kills and four block assists.

Tusculum was led by Sabrina Schleuger who put up 21 kills, the most by an Eagle opponent in a four-set match this season to go along with six digs.

Carson-Newman returns to Holt Fieldhouse this weekend to take on the Brevard Tornados at 7:00 p.m. Friday night and at 6:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon against the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears.

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