Carson-Newman hits .299 with 17.5 blocks in a five-set victory over Augusta.
VIDEO: Dave Franklin Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Alex Biro, Abbie McFarlane and Marnie Streeter combined for 56 kills as Carson-Newman seized a five-set match over Augusta 25-15, 23-25, 25-27, 27-25 and 15-11 Friday evening at Holt Fieldhouse to conclude day one of play in the South Atlantic Conference versus the Peach Belt Conference Crossover.
"It's our second match of the day," Carson-Newman coach Dave Franklin said. "The first match didn't go to plan. I thought we played okay in the first, we just got beat. [Lander] played a little better than we did. Our kids came out in the second match with a lot of energy. They have shown that they can play in practice, it just hadn't come out in a match yet. It came out in the first two sets.
"We played very highly efficient offensively. We were siding out. We were hitting the ball in bounds. We were serving tough and in. Credit to the kids. They mentally grew. We had a little lull in sets three and four. We have struggled in five-setters and give them credit they show their spirit again. To see them grow in a fifth set like that and execute, it was just a lot of fun to watch."
Carson-Newman (3-14) racked up 17.5 blocks tallying its most rejections since recording 19 against Newberry on Oct. 22, 2011.
McFarlane and Streeter are the first duo of Eagles to rack up 20 kills each in the same match since Nov. 12, 2010 when Carly Mozgai had 29 and Nikki James had 21 against Catawba.
"We have been working really hard on our blocking especially this past week in practice," Biro said. "With coach bringing a lot of new stuff to the table this season, it's something that we always worked on and with more practice this week it really just clicked."
Freshman middle blocker Alex Biro had 15 kills and hit .565 to go along with 4.5 blocks in a five-set win over Augusta.
The first set saw Carson-Newman hit a scorching .517 on 16 kills and just one attack error while Augusta (10-6) was limited to a .057 attack percentage. Augusta held a 4-3 lead when senior libero Taylor Lowe (Franklin, Tenn.) reeled off seven straight points on serve to put the home team ahead 10-4. The Jaguars pulled within six points before a 5-1 jaunt gave the home group the space needed to close out the frame.
The second stanza saw Carson-Newman hit .405 compared to a .279 clip for Augusta who had a side-out percentage of 83 to never trail nor see the score tied. The largest lead for the Jaguars was six points at 14-8. Carson-Newman clawed back to 24-23 before a kill from Jordan Bickett equalized the match.
In the second of a string of three sets that were determined by the minimum of two points, both sides hit under .130 while the score was tied seven times and the lead changed hands four times. The two sides flip-flopped points until a 4-0 sequence put Augusta ahead 18-14. The Eagles stormed back to tie the score at 24 and 25 before the Jags closed out the set.
The fourth set was tight to start but Augusta found itself ahead by six at 20-14. C-N battled back but faced three match points. Senior libero Eileen Anderson (Pittstown, N.J.) entered to serve and rattled off three straight points as the score was tied at 25. A kill from Streeter (Goldvein, Va.) sent the match to a fifth frame.
The score was tied on five occasions in the fifth set but the Eagles never trailed. With the score deadlocked at five, C-N rattled off three consecutive rallies as the teams switched sides. Augusta closed within a point at 11-10 but the Eagles won four of the next five capped by a kill from Streeter to seal the match.
Carson-Newman hit a season-high .299, besting a .227 mark against Mars Hill, to go along with 74 digs, 17.5 blocks and five service aces. Augusta countered with a .136 mark, 69 digs, seven blocks and four service aces.
Streeter led all players in the match with a career-high 21 kills while hitting .288. McFarlane (McKinney, Texas) added 20 kills, her third match with at least 20 kills this year, while hitting .333. Biro (Ootlewah, Tenn.) clubbed .565 with a career-best 15 kills and 4.5 total blocks.
Junior setter Anna Patton (Franklin, Tenn.) matched a career-high with 61 assists coupled with 15 digs for her 22nd career double-double.
Senior libero Taylor Lowe (Franklin, Tenn.) racked up 24 digs and sophomore libero Hannah Robertson (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) added 11 scoops.
Augusta was led by 15 kills and a .520 attacked percentage from Jessica Hedrick. Jordan Bickett had 14 kills and 12 digs but committed 13 attack errors. Sammie Baker handed out 40 helpers.
Carson-Newman concludes its nonconference portion of the 2016 schedule with a pair of matches Saturday afternoon against USC Aiken at 1 p.m. and Georgia College at 5 p.m. Live stats will be available at cneagles.com/livestats.
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