Carson-Newman Volleyball Match Notes

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman Eagles (21-3, 14-1 South Atlantic Conference) make the short trek to Harrogate, Tenn. to take on the Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters (10-11, 7-8 SAC) Tuesday night at 7 p.m. inside of Mary Mars Gymnasium.

The Eagles are coming off of a week with four victories and have won seven straight matches entering Tuesday evening's contest.

Junior middle blocker Maddie Borch (Walnut Creek, Calif.) played a key role during the week that included a career-high 16 kills on a .536 attack percentage in a five-set victory on Friday. Borch is the leader in the SAC in attack percentage this season with a .337 percentage on the year. Dating back to 1990 a Carson-Newman player has never led the league in attack percentage over the course of a season.

Borch has been a key contributor to a block that has found its stride recently after a slow start to the season.

Since Carson-Newman coach Dan Ahiers took over as head coach prior to the 2014 season, the Eagles are 32-1 when notching more blocks than their opponent. Carson-Newman has won 32 straight contests when tallying more blocks as the lone loss in that span was against UNC Pembroke on September 13 in five sets as the Eagles outblocked the Braves 11-6.

In the 45th meeting all-time, the Railsplitters are looking to put a halt to a three-match winning streak for the Eagles. Lincoln Memorial leads the all-time series 28-16 despite Carson-Newman's recent streak.

Lincoln Memorial had a 7-4 lead in the fifth set before the Eagles finished on a 10-1 run to seize the match in the first meeting this season. Senior outside hitter Sara Fairley (Charlotte, N.C.) had a match-high 19 kills on a .280 hitting percentage to go along with two service aces and seven digs. She compiled a career-high 22 points in the match.

Lincoln Memorial was led by 18 kills on a .289 attack percentage from Brooke Fleeman while Liz Brock added 11 kills, five digs and four block assists. Abby Cash finished the match with a double-double of 40 assists and 15 digs.

The Railsplitters had dropped five out of six matches prior to a sweep on Saturday against Catawba. Lincoln Memorial has been much more effective at home this year going 6-3 compared to a 2-7 mark away from the friendly confines.

Defense has been the calling card as Lincoln Memorial is top-20 nationally in digs per set averaging 18.47 pm the year. Opponents are hitting .178 this year and have eclisped a .200 percentage four times with the Railsplitters winning each of those matches.

Senior outside hitter Casey Mense broke the LMU's career record for digs in the third against Queens logging the 1,731st dig of her career to surpass Amanda Horenkamp's record that stood since 2009. She now has 1,746 career digs.

For the third straight league match the Eagles will go against a top-three blocking team in the SAC as the Railsplitters have 163 total rejections this season.

Lincoln Memorial will provide live stats and video for Tuesday's match by visiting www.LMURailsplitters.com. Fans are encouraged to follow @CNathletics and @CarsonNewmanVB on Twitter for live updates during the match.

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