GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman Eagles (13-2, 9-1 South Atlantic Conference) began a seven-match road trip with a sweep of the Tusculum Pioneers (6-7, 4-6 SAC) Tuesday evening at Pioneer Arena 25-20, 25-23 and 25-19.
"I love rivarly matches," Carson-Newman coach Dan Ahiers said. "Crowds are big. Both teams play like they really want it and it makes for a great atmosphere. I'm really proud of our defense tonight because we dug a lot of balls. They keyed on our outsides and our middles had a great match because of it. It's another quality win on the road."
With the score tied at six in the first set, the Eagles reeled off six of the next seven points to take a 12-7 advantage. Tusculum battled back to within one point three times, but Carson-Newman used a 5-1 run to take a 20-15 lead. Two kills from junior middle blocker Maddie Borch (Walnut Creek, Calif.) and two kills from senior outside hitter Sara Fairley (Charlotte, N.C.) sealed a 25-20 opening set victory.
The second stanza saw the Pioneers take an 11-7 lead, one of three four-point leads for the home side in the set. The final of those advantages came at 22-18 when Carson-Newman went on a 5-0 spurt to take a one-point lead. The Eagles won the final two points of the set after Tusculum tied the score at 23 to go ahead 2-0 in the match.
Tusculum won four of the first five points of the third frame until Carson-Newman exploded on an 8-1 run to take a 9-5 lead. The Pioneers closed the gap to two points at 14-12 when the Eagles rattled off five of the next six to take a 19-13 lead. The home side never came closer than five points the rest of the set as a kill by freshman middle blocker Natalie Harris (Monroe, N.C.) sealed the contest.
Sophomore setter Anna Patton (Franklin, Tenn.) notched her third straight double-double finishing with 40 assists and 15 digs.
Fairley tallied her fifth double-double of the season with 10 kills and 12 digs.
Senior outside hitter Molly Locke (College Grove, Tenn.) finished with 17 kills and nine digs while junior libero Taylor Lowe (Franklin, Tenn.) racked up 21 digs.
Carson-Newman held Tusculum to a .096 attack percentage using seven blocks and a season-high in three sets 71 digs as a unit.
Hannah Berling led the Pioneers with her eighth double-double of the season finishing with 23 assists and 10 digs while the nation's leader in digs per set, Melissa Mazur, had a match-high 26 digs.
Carson-Newman has defeated Tusculum in three consecutive meetings for the first time since 2008-09.
The Eagles continue their road trip with a journey Aiken, S.C. for the SAC/Peach Belt Challenge this weekend with play beginning Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. against Augusta University.
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