CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Carson-Newman picked up the first set at Curry Arena Friday night in South Atlantic Conference play before Queens (N.C.) rattled off the final three sets to win 23-25, 25-12, 25-23 and 25-14 to extend its winning streak to four matches.
"We grew in certain areas tonight which was great to see," Carson-Newman coach Dave Franklin said. "However, volleyball is won in the pass and serve statistics. We were on the wrong side of those statistics tonight unfortunately. The focus shifts to Catawba now and seeing if we can win the sideout war tomorrow."
Queens (18-5, 15-3) lost a set for the first time since Oct. 21 as it committed 10 errors in the first set and 11 the rest of the match. Carson-Newman (3-24, 2-17) takes a loss against the Royals for the second straight match after winning four in-a-row.
The Eagles produced five blocks in the first frame holding Queens to a -.075 attack percentage with 10 errors and just seven kills. There were five ties and three lead changes in the opening set as the largest lead for either side came from the home team at five points. C-N was in a 14-9 hole when it used a 10-2 sequence to capture the lead. Queens came back to take a 21-20 advantage only to see the Eagles win five of the final seven rallies to capture the opening set.
The Royals made just one attack error in the second stanza hitting .353 while the Eagles hit .000. The score was tied at five when Queens was 13 unanswered points to seize control of the set. C-N failed to win consecutive points the rest of the way as the Royals knotted the match at one.
The third set featured 10 ties and four lead changes as Carson-Newman accrued nine kills before making a mistake to take a 10-5 lead. Queens began to chip away at the deficit using an 8-1 sequence to turn a four-point hole into a 16-13 lead. The Eagles saw the score tied at 22 and 23 before Meredith Jones tallied back-to-back kills to take the set.
In the fourth set, the Eagles had 10 attack errors and just eight kills to hit -.054 and saw the Royals win the first 12 points of the frame. C-N clawed back to get within six points on two occasions but Queens won five straight points to end the night.
Carson-Newman hit .062 as a unit while recording 77 digs, 12 blocks and four service aces. Queens countered with a .174 attack percentage, 73 scoops, 11 aces and seven rejections.
Senior libero Taylor Lowe (Franklin, Tenn.) notched a match-high 30 digs to bring her season total to 613, good for fifth on the program's single-season list.
Junior setter Anna Patton (Franklin, Tenn.) handed out 32 assists to go along with three total blocks.
Freshman outside hitter Marnie Streeter (Goldvein, Va.) led the offense with 15 kills on a .265 attack percentage to go along with six digs. It was the ninth consecutive match that Streeter has recorded double-digit kills.
Jones led all players with 18 kills on a .368 attack percentage and 10 digs on the night. Jessica Raines pitched in 11 kills. Sydney Kunz finished with 41 assists, eight digs and five kills.
With the setback, Carson-Newman lost its 10th straight match to set a program record that was previously nine set during the 1996 and 1999 campaigns.
The final road game of the 2016 season campaign sees Carson-Newman travel to face the Catawba College Catawba Indians Saturday at 5 p.m. at Goodman Gym. Catawba College will have live stats available for those who want to follow along.
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