VIDEO: Dave Franklin Interview
Carson-Newman Volleyball Match Notes
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman returns to Holt Fieldhouse for a quartet of matches over a two-day slate in the South Atlantic Conference/Peach Belt Conference Crossover beginning Friday afternoon and concluding Friday evening.
The Eagles (2-13, 2-9) will challenge Lander (14-4) Friday at noon and Augusta (10-4) Friday at 4 p.m. and conclude the weekend Saturday at 1 p.m. against USC Aiken (13-3) and at 5 p.m. against Georgia College (8-4).
"I think we are prepared for it," Carson-Newman coach Dave Franklin said. "We have had a young team the whole year but we are starting to get that experience and that comfortability to know what to expect when they walk out on that court. Beginning the year playing some high-level teams, I don't think a team is going to come at us with much more than what we saw and so we are prepared for that because we have been improving thus our confidence has risen. I think our girls are hungry and have the expectation that we can win these matches."
The Eagles hold a combined 35-27 record against current members of the Peach Belt Conference having won three consecutive matches against PBC foes. Overall the contingent of four squads C-N will see this weekend have a combined record of 45-15.
Carson-Newman has won eight of the 11 meetings against Lander all-time including a sweep at Lander in 2015. Anna Patton handed out 51 assists, the second-most helpers by a Division II setter last season.
Lander enters Holt Fieldhouse riding a four-match winning streak that followed a four-match losing streak. Three of the wins during that streak have come against the bottom three groups in the Peach Belt and have a 2-3 record on the road this year.
The Bearcats rank 13th in the nation in digs per set averaging 18.81 per frame this season while being led by Kendall Korte's 4.45 and Hannah McManus's 4.27 marks.
As a unit, Lander is hitting .182 to rank eighth in the PBC in attack percentage relying heavily on Halle Dotson who ranks fifth in the league in kills per set with 3.41 and second in attacks per game with 10.13.
Augusta has dropped seven of the 10 prior contests to the Eagles in the all-time series including a four-set setback in 2015. Molly Locke notched a match-high 17 kills on a .361 attack percentage and 10 digs.
Since beginning the season 1-2, Augusta went 9-1 over its next 10 matches before dropping its most recent effort in five sets to Montevallo. Due to Hurricane Matthew, the Jaguars have not played since Oct. 4.
Augusta ranks between fourth and seventh in every statistical category in the Peach Belt and do not rank inside of the top-50 in the nation in any stat.
Catherine DeSilvester leads the defensive unit with 4.75 digs per set, third in the Peach Belt. Kenya Stokes is second in the league in aces per set averaging 0.56 per game.
USC Aiken has a slight 5-4 lead in the all-time series thanks to a sweep in its home gym over C-N in 2015. The Pacers hit .280 with five blocks against the Eagles.
The three losses this season for the Pacers are against the top three teams in the region having lost in four sets to Wingate and Flagler and being swept by Armstrong State.
USC Aiken ranks in the top-10 nationally in three categories. The Pacers are second in digs per set (20.56), third in assists per stanza (13.86) and eighth in kills per game (14.28).
Danielle Mercer ranks 11th in the country and leads the PBC in digs per set with 5.86. Taylor Stratton who had 10 kills against C-N last year is third in the PBC with 3.77 kills per set.
Carson-Newman and Georgia College will meet on a volleyball court for the first time.
Georgia College has not played since Oct. 1 due to weather restrictions last weekend. Since starting the year 5-1, the Bobcats are 3-3.
The Bobcats rank 181st in the country in blocks per set with 1.59 per game but rank fourth in the conference with 17.66 digs per set.
Kayla Brockway ranks ninth in Division II and leads the PBC in service aces per set with 0.59 while ranking sixth in the league with 9.09 assists per set.
There will be no live video footage for any of the contests this weekend with the matches taking place in a dual-court system as Lincoln Memorial will play on the other court. Live stats will be available throughout the weekend on cneagles.com/livestats.
