PENSACOLA, Fla. – 26th-ranked Findlay survived a 28-26 first set before defeating RV Carson-Newman 25-13 and 25-18 in the second and third sets Saturday morning at UWF Field House in the Hampton Inn-Vitational.
Saturday was the first time that Carson-Newman (0-3) faced off against Findlay (1-3) in the history of the program.
In the opening set, the two sides were tied seven times and the lead changed hands on three occasions. Carson-Newman had three match points leading 24-23, 25-24 and 26-25 but two Hannah Tong kills and a setting infraction kept Findlay in the set. Molly Hammersmith and Amanda Winner notched back-to-back kills to take the first set 28-26. The Eagles hit .382 and tallied five blocks in the set.
The Oilers came out firing in the second stanza winning eight of the first ten points. The Eagles closed the gap to six points at 14-8 but Findlay made just one attack error in the second set to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Carson-Newman started slow in the third set falling behind 8-1 before getting back into the match at 14-9. Findlay scored the next six points to go ahead 20-9. The Eagles won eight of 12 points to close within a 24-18 score but ran out of time as Abbie Dauterman put the match away with a kill.
Carson-Newman tallied a .175 attack percentage with 31 digs, seven total blocks and three service aces while Findlay hit .255 as a group with 39 digs, seven service aces and five total blocks.
A trio of Eagles, freshman middle blocker Alex Biro (Ootlewah, Tenn.), freshman outside hitter Kendall Cooley (Castle Rock, Colo.) and freshman outside hitter Marnie Streeter (Goldvein, Va.), recorded a team-high six kills.
Winner led the way for all players with 13 kills as Tong chipped in 11 kills on a .478 hitting percentage. Hailee Olson handed out a match-high 29 assists.
Coach Dave Franklin's group finish play on the opening weekend of the season at 3 p.m. against the host institution, No. 23 West Florida. The match will be broadcast here.
