Shoot, it's hard to know where to begin with this week.  Actually it's hard enough to focus considering the past 48 hours we have been through! But this season, more than any other has proven that we can do anything we put our minds to. The beginning seems like a blur because we were so excited to get to the SAC tournament it was hard to focus on anything else! We made it into our conference tournament (last time being 2011) as the second seed. And with that, we headed through the mountains to Hickory, North Carolina where Lenoir-Rhyne hosted.

The drive to L-R was interesting to say the least. We all knew coach was anxious to get there but we were taken on another rollercoaster through the mountains. Only this one was 3 hours long. We did make it in time though, so I can't argue with success! We arrived just in time to cheer on our seniors as they were honored by the SAC for their hard work over the past 4 years, and went on to congratulate Kristen Pickett, Jenna Wilson, and Rachel Harper for their All-Conference titles. My opinion could be biased, but I think we were the loudest team in the gym during the award ceremony. It was great to see their hard work being rewarded and we just couldn't contain ourselves. I also want to take the time to congratulate Lauren Santarelli and Kiayna O'Neal for being selected Honorable mention. So proud on our team!!  Once the award show was over it was show time.

Our game against Mars Hill began and we were on fire. Nothing was coming between us and that "W". We all flowed and gelled together for a team victory in 3 games. And after we hugged and cheered with our friends and families, we headed back to the hotel to get some good sleep for an eventful Saturday.

The next morning, we began with our normal routine of breakfast, a scouting report, and some down/homework time. As we sat together enjoying the complimentary breakfast, we observed the Lincoln Memorial girls coming down one by one and walking to their bus. Then it suddenly became real that it was win or go home time. It hit other girls at different times but it hit me like a sack of bricks! To keep our minds and bodies preoccupied (because Lord knows we can't sit still for long), our coaches planned a day at the movies for us!  Oh my gosh and Olive Garden! How could I forget Olive Garden. Once we stuffed ourselves with that amazing Salad and Italian food, we headed to the theatre. Most of us saw Beyond the Lights and let's just say that we shared lots of laughs together, but the movie wasn't a comedy. I think my favorite part of the movie was during the previews when an add came on for a scary movie and I turn around to look at Sara Fairley while she had her head turned away from the screen, she had one hand covering her eyes and the other covering her ears. We were laughing at some of the girls shielding themselves from the screen, but I can't say much either, I shut my eyes for most of it.

After the movie we went back to the hotel to relax for a bit and get our pregame meal in, then eventually took off for Lenoir Rhyne again. Saturday we faced Anderson, a team we had beaten in three and in four sets the second time. When the first whistle blew, we came out guns blazing and played the best match collectively as a team, that we had in a while. But in the transition to the second match, something clicked with Anderson and they decided they didn't want to go home. For the next four games, (Carson Newman 2-Anderson 3) it seemed like no matter how many points we earned, Anderson always had the momentum. We fought like dogs, and gave it all but we were defeated by Anderson that night. We were all experiencing different waves of emotion. Going into the SAC tournament placed 5^th in our region, and losing to the 7^th placed team, did that mean we were out? We had to place in the top 7 in order to get into the NCAA tournament because another conference automatically had the 8^th seed.  Was that the last time playing with our seniors?  Was all of our work this season to come shy of our last goal? Is what we accomplished prior to this match enough to get us in? These were just a few of the questions circling through our minds as we took off our gear and headed to the buses. I know our seniors didn't get much sleep Saturday night in their hotel beds, not knowing if they were going to lace up one more time. I wish I could say I was hopeful the whole time, but I was just trying to prepare myself for the worst because we hadn't gotten a lot of respect from our Region this season. The ball wasn't in our hands anymore, and we couldn't do anything but wait for 10pm the next day to see if we were selected to go to the NCAA championship tournament.

Sunday night we had practice at 8 o'clock. As we talked about the good things from this weekend and the aspects of the game we still need to improve on, our team began to be ourselves again. We laughed about Sara's mid game speech where she said, and I quote, "We gotta stop on their throats and kick them in the face!" Yes that is the same Sara who hid from the scary commercial. Talking it over helped re focus and we had one of the best practices we had in a long time! Sweaty as all get out, we headed down to our locker room just in time to watch the NCAA Selection Show. As the show counted down, the nerves started to hit and to our surprise, they started announcing our regional bracket second! We all latched onto each other and squeezed tight with hope as the suspense ate at us. They called Anderson in 5^th place and Lenoir Rhyne in 7^th both before they announced the number 6^th seed… CARSON NEWMAN!!! The locker room erupted with rejoice! We couldn't even contain ourselves to see who our opponent was, and to be honest we didn't care then. We immediately sprung out of our seats and began jumping, hugging, celebrating for our accomplishments. That moment seemed to last an hour. Nobody had out their phones recording or taking pictures, we were purely in that moment. One we will remember for a life time.

Once the excitement was containable, we discovered that we are playing S.C Aiken at Wingate, 12:00 on Thursday. Getting into the NCAA tournament was the last of the 3 goals coach had set for us this season, the first two: beating Wingate and placing top 3 in our conference. Now it's time to set new ones and ride the excitement of achieving those goals! Thank you for all of the support, prayers, hope, faith, and loyalty you all have showed us. We are without a doubt, here because of you and our drive to accomplish more.

Thanks for reading,

Kristina (Tina) Hill

God Bless!

Throughout the 2014 volleyball season, junior libero Kristina Hill (Lake Orion, Mich.) will write about her experiences at Carson-Newman. A new installment will be released each Monday afternoon.

- CN -