ANDERSON, S.C. – After falling behind 0-2 in the match, Carson-Newman surged to force a fifth set before Anderson captured a five-set contest 25-16, 25-15, 20-25, 24-26 and 15-10 Friday evening at the Abney Center in South Atlantic Conference play.
"I'm not sure what you say after a match like that," Carson-Newman coach Dave Franklin said. "What is know is that there is two parts to competitive athletics. There is heart slash competitiveness and there is the execution of the fundamentals. Heart and competitiveness cannot be taught to an athlete or a team so as a coach you look to see if your team has it. Our first seven matches have left zero doubt that these athletes have heart! It is something to behold as a coach and makes you so proud to be a part of.
"The good news is that fundamentals can be learned and almost perfected. Our fundamentals are coming along. They simply are not to the point of consistency that leads to winning, but man oh man are we so close! We will not let another lesson learned tonight go to waste. You will see us ready to compete at a higher level tomorrow!"
Carson-Newman outhit Anderson .304 to .182 in the opening stanza but five service aces from the Trojans was the difference. The Eagles tied the score at seven before an 8-2 spurt gave the home group a comfortable lead. A Serena Jackson kill ended the first set to give the Trojans an advantage.
In the second frame, the home team took a 12-5 lead before the visitors reeled off eight of the next 10 rallies to pull within one at 14-13 and forcing Anderson to use a timeout. Out of the brief respite, the Trojans won 10 of the final 12 points to take control of the match at 2-0.
The third set saw six ties and two lead changes while each team hit over .330. Anderson's biggest lead came at 14-10 when C-N won six of the next seven points to go ahead 16-15. After gaining separation, the Eagles saw Rachel Burts commit an attack error to seal a victory for Carson-Newman in the third.
Anderson scored the first four points of the fourth set and held an 11-4 lead when Carson-Newman hit the comeback trail. The lead was as much as seven points and the Trojans had a match point at 24-23 when the Eagles won the final three rallies of the set capped by a kill from sophomore middle blocker Natalie Harris (Monroe, N.C.) to force a fifth set.
In the final frame, the two sides traded the first 12 rallies until Anderson scored two unanswered to take an 8-6 lead as the teams switched sides. The edge was all the Trojans needed as they stretched it on a couple errors from Carson-Newman and clinched the match on a kill from Jackson.
In the match, Carson-Newman hit .182 with 64 digs, 10 service aces and four total blocks while Anderson countered with a .221 hitting percentage, 71 digs, 11 service aces and six total rejections.
Freshman outside hitter Marnie Streeter (Goldvein, Va.) tallied 14 kills while fellow rookie outside hitter Abbie McFarlane (McKinney, Texas) added 10 smashes.
Senior libero Taylor Lowe (Franklin, Tenn.) collected 26 digs and junior setter Anna Patton (Franklin, Tenn.) dished out 31 assists.
A trio of Trojans collected double-digit kills led by 13 from Kathryn Hughes. Emily Conlin notched 41 assists and eight digs.
Carson-Newman is back in action Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. with a match against Newberry with a live broadcast and stats.
