VIDEO: Dave Franklin Interview
Carson-Newman Volleyball Match Notes
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – To close out the road portion of the 2016 season, Carson-Newman travels to Queens (N.C.) for a 7 p.m. first serve Friday night and to Catawba Saturday evening at 5 p.m. for South Atlantic Conference matches.
"As the season has gone on and we haven't been able to get over that hump, it's about finding small goals," Carson-Newman coach Dave Franklin said. "I give our kids a lot of credit. We come into practice with energy. We haven't always been able to execute at the level we wanted to but it wasn't for lack of effort which is what you want to see as a coach. We started a mini-season for our last five matches that started on Tuesday night. Our goal is to have a winning record in the last five. I think the girls are motivated and we are getting prepared to go in there and see what we can do."
Queens (17-5, 14-3) snapped a four-match losing streak to Carson-Newman (3-23, 2-16) in the first meeting this season on Sept. 30 as the Royals won in four sets at Holt Fieldhouse to make the all-time series 6-3 in favor of C-N.
The first contest saw Queens reel in a four-set victory limiting C-N to a .060 attack percentage while clubbing .222.
A pair of C-N athletes notched 10 kills as freshman outside hitters Abbie McFarlane (McKinney, Texas) and Marnie Streeter (Goldvein, Va.) led the offensive effort.
Meredith Jones led all players with 19 kills to go along with 17 digs. Rebecca Cochran and Jessica Raines each had 11 kills while Cochran piled up 12 digs. Sydney Kunz was the third member of the visiting side with a double-double as she finished with 40 assists and 11 digs.
In the opening list of NCAA Regional Rankings, Queens checked in at No. 6 in the Southeast joining top-ranked Wingate and fourth-ranked Lincoln Memorial on the list. Since a 4-3 start to the year, the Royals are 13-2 and have won three consecutive contests via a sweep.
Power at the tape has been the biggest reason for the success of Queens as it averages 2.29 rejections per set to rank 18th nationally while yielding a .148 attack percentage to rank 44th in the country and the second-best margin in the league.
The Royals boast one of the league's best individual outside hitters as Jones is the league's leader with 3.76 kills per set while racking up a conference-best 320 smashes.
The Eagles had won six straight matches against Catawba (13-10, 11-7) prior to five-set triumph by the Indians on Oct. 1 in Jefferson City. Catawba holds the lead in the series 33-26.
C-N won the first and third sets only to see Catawba pull out a five-set victory on a night where both teams hit below .120.
Junior setter Anna Patton (Franklin, Tenn.) finished the day with 32 assists, nine digs and three total blocks. Senior libero Taylor Lowe (Franklin, Tenn.) had a match-high 25 digs.
Allison Benton led the way for Catawba with 14 kills and 18 digs while Bri Howard chipped in 10 kills.
Catawba has won four matches in-a-row and has an 8-2 record since the month of October began. Just two of those eight wins have been by a sweep as the Indians have needed five sets three times in that stretch.
Statistically speaking, Catawba ranks in the bottom five of the SAC in 11 of the 16 categories that the NCAA monitors. The Indians are fourth in the league in opponent's attack percentage at .171 and fifth in the conference with 17.57 digs per set.
Rachel Stanford is third in the SAC in total assists with 897 and fourth in helpers per frame at 9.86 while Meredith Furr is sixth with 5.20 digs per set.
"We are in an advantage," Franklin said. "The pressure is on them. If we go in and have fun and relax, we can execute at a little higher level. I think it can help us win these kind of matches as long as we go in relaxed and we have nothing to lose. I think we will be in the mix. The pressure will be on them and not on us."
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