Cobras slither past Eagles in four frustrating frames

Box Score (PDF)

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – For a second straight day, Carson-Newman started off on fire before faltering down the stretch losing in four sets at the DeLoach Center Saturday afternoon to Coker 25-15, 17-25, 24-26 and 23-25 in South Atlantic Conference action.

After making two hitting errors in the first frame, the Eagles piled up 16 miscues the rest of the match while tallying just 23 kills while the Cobras overcame early mistakes and pounded out 47 kills in the final three games.

Carson-Newman (11-11, 7-7) had been 9-2 all-time against Coker (11-11, 3-10) as the Eagles had piled up six sweeps through the first 11 meetings. The Cobras had lost eight of their last 10 prior to getting in the win column Saturday.

Franklin's group came out of the gates swinging winning the first seven points of the day while hitting .323 in the opening sequence. The Cobras pulled within four points at 11-7 only to see the Eagles win six straight to get the lead to double figures. Megan Oldenburger's (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) fourth kill of the set put away the first frame.

The script was flipped in the second stanza as the Eagles committed five attack errors and had just four kills compared to 15 smashes by Coker. C-N won the first four but a 19-6 run by the Cobras put the home group on top 19-10. Lana Strejcek tied the match with a kill.

Coker won six of the first seven rallies to open the third set and was up 19-13 when the Eagles mounted a charge. Down five, C-N went on a 7-1 run to take a 24-22 edge. An attack error followed by an ace from Kara Overholt tied the score before two matches gave the Cobras the game.

In the fourth, the Eagles went ahead 6-2 to begin the set and held a lead until at 12-11, the Cobras won four of five to take a 15-13 advantage. There were 15 ties and seven lead changes as the two sides traded blows. C-N led 23-22 when the Cobras won the final three to clinch the victory.

On the day, the Eagles were limited to a .107 attack percentage on 35 kills with 100 digs, seven aces and 13 total blocks. The Cobras tallied a .136 margin with 56 kills, 98 digs, five aces and seven rejections.

At the net, Marnie Streeter (Goldvein, Va.) led the Eagles with nine kills on 50 swings while adding three blocks. A trio of her teammates added six smashes.

Morgan Ballard (Weaverville, N.C.) paced the back line with 36 digs and Katie Parnell (Atlanta) led a strong charge at the net with four total blocks.

Four Cobras finished in double figures in kills led by 20 from Taylor du Bray as she chipped in 19 digs. Olivia Veith had 13 kills and Strejcek finished with a dozen. Olivia Cerick racked up 10 smashes and 19 scoops.

Rami Mullen handed out 43 assists and picked up 20 digs and Overholt led the back row with 26 digs.

The Eagles return home for four straight road matches beginning Tuesday evening against Tusculum at 7 p.m. from Holt Fieldhouse. Broadcast coverage can be found on cneagles.com/live as the Eagle Sports Network provides the commentary.

- CN -