Eagles glide to sweep of Lions in SAC Tournament opening round

Mars Hill

Carson-Newman

Final	1	2	3	T
Mars Hill (10-20, 9-13 SAC)	20	17	17	0
Carson-Newman (26-5, 20-2 SAC)	25	25	25	3

Eagles glide to sweep of Lions in SAC Tournament opening round

Game Leaders

Mars Hill

K: Lauren Hochstetler - 8

B: 4 Players (#2, #7, #10, #22) - 1

D: Christen Nicholson - 15

SA: Andie Russell - 2

Carson-Newman

K: Rachel Harper - 16

B: 2 Players (#7, #16) - 3

D: Taylor Lowe - 20

SA: 2 Players (#6, #7) - 2

Team Stats

Mars Hill

Carson-Newman

Hitting %

.125

.241

Blocks

3.0

5.0

Digs

Aces

full stats

Posted: Nov 14, 2014

HICKORY, N.C. – Behind senior outside hitter Rachel Harper's 16 kills, the second-seeded Carson-Newman Eagles (26-5) swept the Mars Hill Lions (10-20) 25-20, 25-17 and 25-17 In the first round of the South Atlantic Conference Tournament Friday evening at Shuford Gymnasium.

It was the first win for the Eagles in the SAC Tournament since defeating Catawba on November 12, 2010 in five sets.

"Tonight we took one more step closer to what we want to accomplish as a team," head coach Dan Ahiers said. "Mars Hill is a great defensive team and we were able to dig more balls and block more balls than they were."

Mars Hill made the first move of the contest with the score tied at seven. The Lions reeled off four unanswered points to jump out to an 11-7 lead. It was a lead that Carson-Newman slowly chipped away at before tying the score at 16. As part of a 6-0 spurt, the Eagles took a 19-16 advantage. The Lions responded to tie the score at 19 before the Eagles won six of the final seven rallies to take the opening set. Harper (Chattanooga, Tenn.) led all players with six kills.

Carson-Newman wasted no time in the second stanza to take control of the set racing out to a 10-2 lead. Mars Hill could never pull closer than three points the rest of the set. The score was 15-12 when the Eagles used a 7-2 run to take a 21-14 lead. The 10^th kill from Harper sealed the set for the Eagles who hit .350 in the frame.

The Eagles never trailed and dealt with just one tie in the third frame. In a 6-6 contest, the Eagles used a 5-1 spurt to take an 11-7 lead. After back-to-back points for Mars Hill, Carson-Newman used a 9-3 jaunt to take a decisive 20-12 lead and used a kill from senior middle blocker Jenna Wilson (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) to earn the sweep.

Harper tallied her 13th double-double of the year with 16 kills and 13 digs to go along with three block assists.

Senior setter Kristen Pickett (Cleveland, Tenn.) had 31 assists and nine digs as she helped the Eagles hit .241 in the match.

Wilson and senior outside hitter Lauren Santarelli (Colorado Springs, Colo.) each had nine kills.

Mars Hill was led by Lauren Hochstetler's eight kills and nine digs as the Lions hit .125 in the match.

Carson will tangle with the winner of the No. 3 Anderson and No. 6 Lincoln Memorial game Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. for a chance to play for the SAC Tournament championship. The Eagles swept and beat the Trojans in four sets this year while sweeping the Railsplitters twice this season.

- CN -