VIDEO: Dave Franklin Interview

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn.  – In the final match of the South Atlantic Conference versus the Peach Belt Conference Crossover, Georgia College entered Holt Fieldhouse Saturday evening and left with a 25-22, 20-25, 28-26 and 26-24 victory.

"We played a really good USC Aiken team this morning that is really consistent," Carson-Newman coach Dave Franklin said. "Consistency has been something that has plagued us throughout this season and I thought they took advantage of that.

"In the third set we were down 23-17 and I think we went ahead 25-24. That has kind of been our identity where we fall behind but we come back at you at some point at the end of the game. It is also signs of inconsistency and siding out. It is not for lack of effort. Our execution has improved from day one until now."

It was the first time that Carson-Newman (3-16) and Georgia College (10-6) had a played a volleyball match against each other.

In the opening set, the Eagles trailed by two points at 7-5 when the Bobcats won four straight to take a six-point lead. C-N made a run to pull within a point at 17-16 and pulled with two points seven times the rest of the set before a kill by Taylor Svehla put the visitors ahead in the match.

The second stanza saw three ties but the Eagles never trailed. With a 9-8 lead, C-N won seven of the next nine points to take a 16-11 advantage. Georgia College was able to cut the deficit to two points five times the rest of the way by a setting mistake by Kayla Brockway capped the set.

The third frame was the most hotly contested of the day featuring seven ties and three lead changes. Georgia College's largest lead was eight points at 22-14, but Carson-Newman went on an 11-2 run to take a 25-24 lead. C-N had a set point at 26-25 but could not put away the Bobcats who took a 2-1 lead in the match on an attack error by freshman outside hitter Marnie Streeter (Goldvein, Va.).

The Eagles held the lead for the majority of the fourth set and led by as many as five points. Carson-Newman led 23-19 but a 7-1 conclusion to the match capped the day.

Carson-Newman hit .171 with 75 digs, 13 total blocks and seven service aces. Georgia College countered with a .168 attack percentage 89 scoops, 10 rejections and three service aces.

Streeter led the home side with 14 kills as fellow rookies Abbie McFarlane (McKinney, Texas) had 13 kills and 13 digs and middle blocker Alex Biro (Ootlewah, Tenn.) added 12 kills and five blocks to become the first Eagle this season with five rejections.

Junior setter Anna Patton (Franklin, Tenn.) had 33 assists and 15 digs and senior libero Taylor Lowe (Franklin, Tenn.) added 25 assists.

Svehla led all players with 22 kills while hitting .400 to go along with 3.5 blocks. Caroline Long and Ebony Powers each had 12 kills and Brockway handed out 37 assists.

Carson-Newman has a quick turnaround playing Tuesday night at Lincoln Memorial and Mary Mars Gymnasium at 7 p.m. against the top team in the league.

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