NEWBERRY, S.C. – The first loss of South Atlantic Conference play in 2017 for Carson-Newman came at the hands of Newberry Friday night at Eleazer Arena as the Wolves won in five sets 25-18, 25-27, 25-12, 18-25 and 15-5.
"Players win, coaches lose," Carson-Newman coach Dave Franklin expressed. "Unfortunately I had my team underprepared to perform at a high level that resulted in losing tonight. Give Newberry a ton of credit. They brought a high level of energy and execution from the get-go tonight. I felt Newberry out-passed and out-served us tonight, which is what determined the outcome of the match."
Newberry (5-3, 1-0) has now won three straight in the series and six of the last 10 meetings against Carson-Newman (4-2, 2-1) dating back to 2012.
The Eagles tallied a season-low .099 attack percentage committing 28 attack errors on the night despite racking up 91 digs, the second-most on the year.
Marnie Streeter (Goldvein, Va.) led the Eagles offensively with 14 kills and picking up nine digs in the process.
Anna Patton (Franklin, Tenn.) notched her third double-double of the year with 23 assists and 11 digs while Morgan Ballard (Weaverville, N.C.) had 30 scoops and six helpers.
The first set saw the visiting group take its lone lead on the first point. Four unanswered rallies gave Newberry a 7-3 advantage. C-N cut the deficit to a deuce at 14-12 only to see the Wolves find a rhythm and seal a 1-0 lead on a kill by Sidra Triplett.
Newberry raced out of the gates in the second stanza taking an early 7-2 lead. The tide quickly turned as Carson-Newman won seven of the next eight to take a 9-8 edge. The Wolves had a response flipping the script to take the upper hand at 22-18. The Eagles rattled off five straight points punctuated by a pair of rejections from Streeter and Biro. Franklin's group tied the match on a kill into the middle of the court by Harnischfeger.
The third set saw the Wolves hit .419 with 13 kills while not making an attack mistake. On the other side, the Eagles made eight errors and hit .050. Newberry controlled the stanza winning nine of 10 points to take a 22-8 lead and sealing the set on a kill by Vanessa Blas.
The fourth frame saw the two sides evenly matched early as the scored was knotted at 11. With Patton on serve, the Eagles rattled off five straight points to take control. Newberry failed to close the gap to fewer than four points as Katie Parnell (Atlanta, Ga.) forced a fifth set with a kill.
It was a tale of two different teams in the fifth set as the Eagles had just one kill on a minus-.143 attack percentage compared to Newberry's nine kills on a .364 hitting clip. The Wolves won the first four points and nine of the first 10. The lone time that the Eagles won consecutive rallies came when the team sliced the deficit to 11-5. Toni-Anne Whitlow clinched the match with a kill.
Three players for Newberry finished in double figures in kills led by Sidra Triplett's 16. Whitlow had 10 as did Mary Siebert who also notched 13 digs.
Kensley Jordan led all players with 36 digs. Maggie Marsh had 28 assists and 14 digs while her setting partner, Taylor Garrison, finished with 21 kills and 11 digs.
Newberry had 102 digs on the night while hitting .199 with five service aces.
"We are looking forward to preparing our team for another conference road match tomorrow against a scrappy Coker team who will also bring it from the service line," Franklin stated.
The Eagles will attempt to get back to their winning ways Saturday afternoon in the final road match of September at Coker. First serve is slated for 2 p.m. as stats and video will be provided by the Cobras.
- CN -