JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – With the 2016 volleyball season eight days await from the start for Carson-Newman, the position previews continue with junior setter Anna Patton (Franklin, Tenn.) with her look at the setters and middles.
2015 was the first season that Patton was given the reigns of the Carson-Newman attack and she produced one of the greatest seasons in program history. She finished the season with 1,430 assists, the third-most in program history in a single season and ranked 12th in Division II with 1,430 total assists.
Her 10.51 assists per set ranks fifth on the school's single year records and ranked 39th nationally. Patton became the third setter in school history to lead the South Atlantic Conference in assists per set joining Holly Barnham (1994) and Sherry Trimble (2002) and the third setter in school history to win SAC Specialist of the Week honors multiple times in a year joining Stephanie Cutter (2009) and Kristen Pickett (2014).
"It's definitely different than last year," Patton said of the upcoming season. "All of the new freshman this year, in practice, I have really gelled with a lot so we are already building a chemistry pretty quickly. I was telling my coach earlier that our team chemistry is coming along a lot quicker than I thought it would so I'm definitely excited for that."
The Franklin, Tenn. native was a second-team All-SAC selection and a member of the Southeast Region All-Tournament Team in 2015. On the year, Patton racked up 16 double-doubles ranking second on the roster behind Molly Locke's 18. The junior was one of the best at the service line piling up 41 service aces to rank sixth in the league.
Two matches stick out from the 2015 season. The first was in the SAC Championships on Nov. 20 at Anderson (S.C.) when she set a career-high with 61 assists while also setting a personal best with four solo blocks, 5.5 total blocks and 12.5 points.
On Oct. 10 at Lander, Patton piled up 51 assists in a sweep marking the second-most assists in a three-set match in D2 on the year and being the first C-N player since Sherry Trimble in 2002 to have at least 50 assists in a three-set match.
During the offseason, Patton and teammate Morgan Harlan (Ladera Ranch, Calif.) did not participate in the sand season to spend time in the gym refining their skills.
"One of the main differences is there is a lot more focus on the technical aspect of the setting game," Patton said. "Me and Morgan Harlan were in the gym a lot more than the other players doing a lot more repetitions and things like that. It's more breaking down the game of volleyball analytically than just going out there and playing."
Harlan provides depth at the setter position after freshman Elena Vazquez (Riverside, Calif.) tore her ACL in a club tournament. The junior was limited in 2015 by a leg injury that held her out of the final two months of the season and has seen time in 27 matches in her career.
The middle position has a pair of underclassmen in sophomore Natalie Harris (Monroe, N.C.) and freshman Alex Biro (Ootlewah, Tenn.).
Harris is the reigning SAC Freshman of the Year as she became the first Carson-Newman player to receive the honor since the award's inception in 1990.
"It's definitely a good thing to have Natalie Harris in the middle," Patton said. "It's good because we built a lot of chemistry last year. We've gone through some ups and downs. We know each other and how each other plays a lot better so we will be able to build on that this year."
The sophomore was one of three players on the roster to participate in all 137 sets played in 2015. She had 321 kills in her first season at Mossy Creek, the most kills in a single season by a freshman since 2003 when Melissa Miller piled up 367.
The native of the Tar Heel State piled up 10 kills in C-N's first game of 2015 against Quincy on Sept. 4 marking the first time since Aug. 29, 2001 that a true freshman had double-digit kills in a season opener when Jenna Rust had 12 against Union (Ky.).
The 2015 All-Freshman Team honoree 379 total points and 321 total kills on the year ranked 8th in the SAC while her 97 total blocks led the team and ranked fourth in the SAC.
Biro is one of four new options for Patton and the Eagles offense. The rookie was named the 2015 District 5 AAA Season MVP and picked first-team Best of Preps selection. The Volunteer State native helped the Owls to the TSSAA State Tournament by winning the District, Region and Sectional Championships and finished her career with 1,307 kills, 379 career blocks and a .465 attack percentage.
"I just have to be a lot more vocal than I was last year," Patton said. "Building on that team chemistry so they all feel included in the team. They're all really fast learners and eager to learn."
Friday marks the conclusion of the position previews for Carson-Newman volleyball with a look at the outside hitters that feature a gaggle of rookies. Freshman Marnie Streeter (Goldvein, Va.) chats with the Eagle Sports Network to provide analysis.
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