Carson-Newman coach Dave Franklin previews a weekend of SAC contests as the second half of league play gets into full swing.
VIDEO: Dave Franklin Interview
Carson-Newman Volleyball Match Notes
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – With four of its next five matches at home, Carson-Newman plays host to Anderson (S.C.) Friday night at 7 p.m. and Newberry Saturday evening at 5 p.m. at Holt Fieldhouse in South Atlantic Conference action.
"These next two weeks are going to the be most critical of our season to determine whether or not we can get into the top eight and make the conference tournament," Carson-Newman volleyball coach Dave Franklin said. "It all starts tomorrow night. The girls know that going in so the energy should be high. It's nice to get to play these matches in Holt. Our team like all other teams are more comfortable at home so it gives us a real good chance."
Carson-Newman (3-17, 2-10) is looking to build on recent strong blocking performances that has put the Eagles on top of the league in block assists with 251. C-N has tallied more rejections than its opponents in 13 of the 20 matches this season. Sophomore middle blocker Natalie Harris (Monroe, N.C.) ranks third in the league in blocks per set with 0.98 and freshman middle blocker Alex Biro (Ootlewah, Tenn.) is ninth at 0.80.
"Our record, I don't know if it's a direct representation of how well we have competed and played," Franklin said. "We have plenty of five-set losses so we have had opportunities to win matches we just couldn't seem to finish them out. At no point does it seem like these kids quit or give up. We have made all of these crazy comebacks. Even at this point in the season despite our record we have great energy in our practices."
Three of the last five meetings between C-N and Anderson (12-10, 8-6) have needed five sets with the Trojans winning two of the three contests. The Eagles still hold a stranglehold on the series winning 11 of the first 20 games.
The first meeting this season saw the Eagles fall behind 0-2 before battling back to force a fifth frame which they lost 15-10. Freshman outside hitter Marnie Streeter (Goldvein, Va.) had 14 kills and rookie outside hitter Abbie McFarlane (McKinney, Texas) added 10. Emily Conlin notched 41 assists and eight digs as Kathryn Hughes had 13 kills.
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.
Anderson snapped a three-match losing streak with a sweep of Wingate, who was undefeated in SAC play at the time, last Friday. The Trojans hit .395 while holding the Bulldogs to a .049 clip.
The Trojans have the top two teams in the league in terms of hitting percentage. Rachel Burts leads the way with a .311 clip while Serena Jackson is second at .297.
Emily Conlin leads the league in total assists (827), service aces (36), aces per set (0.43) and is second in the SAC in assists per set (9.85).
Carson-Newman holds a massive advantage against Newberry leading 43-8 in the all-time series, six more victories than any other foe in program history for C-N.
On Sept. 17, Newberry (12-10, 9-5) swept Carson-Newman for the first time 51 matches between the two schools by snapping a four-match skid to C-N.
McFarlane led all players with 10 kills while Newberry's Logan Hayward had eight kills and 16 digs.
Newberry hit .299 as a unit with 42 digs, seven service aces and three total blocks while Carson-Newman notched a .125 hitting percentage with 38 digs, one service ace and four total blocks.
Newberry has won three straight matches dropping just one set during that time with a win over Wingate last Saturday and a victory over Anderson on Tuesday.
The Wolves block ranks last in the league and 264th in the nation with just 1.19 per set and a total of 92 this season.
No one in the conference has been set more times than Hayward who has had 810 attacks, 29th in Division II, as she ranks fifth in the league with 3.09 kills per set.
A high definition video stream will be available for each contest over the weekend courtesy of the Eagle Sports Network on cneagles.com/live beginning five minutes prior to the first serve.
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