Final road swing begins as Eagles visit Lions

Carson-Newman Volleyball Match Notes

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The final three road games of the year are slated for the first week of November as Carson-Newman travels to Mars Hill's Stanford Arena for a 7 p.m. first serve Tuesday night in South Atlantic Conference play.

The Eagles have secured a single-digit win total for just the third time in program history having not done so prior to 2016 since 1990, the team's second year of volleyball competition. 1989 is the only other season that C-N has failed to crest double-digit wins tallying a program-low three victories in the opening year of volleyball competition.

2016 is the 17th time in school history that the Eagles have recorded a losing record in SAC play and the first since a string of three years from 2011-13.

Tuesday marks the 59th all-time meeting between the two schools as the Eagles hold a 37-21 advantage in the all-time series with C-N's lone sweep this season coming against Mars Hill at Holt Fieldhouse on Sept. 9.

C-N goes for the season sweep for the first time since 2014 and the 10th regular season sweep of Mars Hill since the two programs began playing during the 1992 campaign.

Each set was tight the first time around as it went 25-22, 25-23 and 25-21 to give Dave Franklin his first career collegiate win.

Carson-Newman hit .227 with 62 digs, seven service aces and three total blocks while Mars Hill was held to a .068 attack percentage with 65 digs, seven service aces and zero total blocks.

Sophomore middle blocker Natalie Harris (Monroe, N.C.) led all players with 10 kills while making just one attack error to hit .450 in the match. Senior libero Taylor Lowe (Franklin, Tenn.) collected 18 digs while sophomore Ally King (Cincinnati, Ohio) reeled in a career-high 18 scoops. Junior setter Morgan Harlan (Ladera Ranch, Calif.) handed out a career-high 27 assists.

Sara Fahrenbrook dished out 24 assists while Mary Kate Griffin had a team-high eight kills and Rebecca Butler picked up seven kills.

After a 1-10 month of September, Mars Hill capped the month of October 5-8 that included a three-match winning streak against Tusculum, Lenoir-Rhyne and Brevard. Since that streak, the Lions have dropped three consecutive contests.

In the Division II ranks, Mars Hill is eighth in the nation in total digs with 1,815 and 14th in the country in digs per set with 18.71. Victoria Kaiser in the 10th nationally with 645 total scoops and 13th in the country with 5.77 digs per set.

In every other statistic, the Lions are in the bottom five of the conference. Opponents are hitting .192 this season, a mark that places MHU 193rd among Division II schools and 10th in the league. With a .156 attack clip, the Lions are 212th.

Mary Kate Griffin is the highest rated attack player posting 2.44 kills per set to rank 18th in the conference while Rebecca Butler's 2.38 mark in 20th and is the only Lion in the top 35 in the conference in hitting percentage at .241 on the year.

At the net, Mars Hill is 226th nationally with 1.43 blocks per set this season having recorded a double-digit night just three times this season. Sally Anne Johnson is 15th in the SAC in blocks per set tallying 0.72 per game on the season.

The game will have live stats set up for fans to follow along to the contest. Follow @CNathletics for further details of the road contest.

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