JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Three Eagles produced a double-double but Carson-Newman fell in four frames to Queens Saturday afternoon at the Levine Center 22-25, 25-13, 18-25 and 18-25 in a rematch of the South Atlantic Conference Tournament title match from 2017.
"It's a tough loss today," Carson-Newman coach Dave Franklin said. "We didn't necessarily play poorly. We just got beat by a team who executed more over time than we were able to today. We are a good team who is finding our way to putting it all together. I am excited to watch our continued progress on that path.
"We showed defensive improvement today as a whole unit which was great to see. Two of our core values are courage and persistence and we're in a stretch of the season with how close we are to being really good where they will be tested. I believe in this group and we will not lose faith in what we can accomplish."
Elena Vasquez (Riverside, Calif.) notched her first double-double of the season with 21 assists while crushing her previous career high of 13 digs with 20 against the Royals.
Megan Oldenburger (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) tallied 13 kills and 18 digs and Marnie Streeter (Goldvein, Va.) finished with 13 kills and 14 scoops.
Morgan Ballard (Weaverville, N.C.) paced the back line with 34 digs on the day as Natalie Harris (Monroe, N.C.) chipped in six kills and four aces. Taylor Rohr (Windsor, Colo.) chalked up 17 assists and nine digs.
On the day, Carson-Newman (7-6, 3-3) registered 45 kills with a .171 hitting clip, 102 digs, 10 aces and six blocks versus a .189 margin from Queens (8-8, 4-5) on 56 kills, 109 digs, seven aces and three rejections.
Casey Tarvin led all players with 19 kills on the day while piling up a team-high 24 digs. Jordan Proszenyak had 10 kills and 24 digs while Logan Witt added 11 smashes.
Mallory Swarts and Alexandria Becerra added 22 and 25 assists respectively. Four players had at least 20 digs on the day as JayCee Jones had 22 and Chanel Turner had 21.
It was a career day for @lenafrances16, but @CarsonNewmanVB fell to @QueensAthletics in a four-set effort on the road. pic.twitter.com/v7wld5ePo0
— C-N Athletics (@CNathletics) September 29, 2018
The opening game featured 11 ties but just two lead changes. Neither side led by more than two points until the Eagles flipped a 14-12 deficit into an 18-15 lead with a 6-1 spurt. C-N held the margin at 22-20 when the Royals won the final five points of the game capped by a kill from Witt.
Franklin's unit put things together in the second stanza bursting for a 5-1 run to push ahead 13-7. Queens won multiple points in succession just twice in the game, both coming in the latter portions. Harris and Streeter put the game to rest with kills.
The third set was tight at the outset with the score tied at nine. A 5-1 run followed by four unanswered moments later stretched the margin to five at 20-15. An attack error by Vasquez capped the contest.
C-N started the fourth set with a lead of 10-6 only to watch Queens win six of seven to go ahead 12-11. After trading punches, the Royals broke a 15-15 deadlock with four straight. The Eagles could not get any closer than two the rest of the way as Tarvin iced the match with a blast.
The Eagles wrap up their five-match road trip with a short jaunt to Tusculum on Tuesday night for a 7 p.m. first serve against the Pioneers.
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