HICKORY, N.C. – Marnie Streeter notched her 1,000th career kill Friday evening at Shuford Gym leading Carson-Newman to a sweep of Lenoir-Rhyne 25-22, 25-22 and 25-18 in the penultimate South Atlantic Conference contest of the season.
"Tonight was an awesome road win for our team," Carson-Newman coach Dave Franklin said. "We showed great composure in every set by never wavering through each run L-R made. It was fun to see us finish off sets especially at this time of year. Our block was clutch tonight and made it very difficult on their hitters. It has a massive effect on the outcome of the match.
"It's November so the next match is the most important one and a tough and disciplined Mars Hill team awaits so we will get our rest and come back tomorrow swinging again."
Streeter produced 10 kills bringing her career total to an even 1,000 as she becomes the first Eagle since Rachel Harper in 2014 to reach the threshold. She is the eighth player to join the 1,000-kill club since 2002.
To start the contest there were 11 ties and five lead changes with L-R taking a couple three-point edges early. Down 14-11, the Eagles won four straight to take the lead only to concede the advantage and fall behind 19-16. C-N rattled off nine of the final 12 clinching the set on a kill by Erin Edwards (Midlothian, Va.).
Runs opened and ended the second stanza as the Eagles started the game leading 7-2. A 13-5 response by the Bears put them on top 13-12 as the home group was able to go in front 20-16 as C-N burned its final timeout. Franklin's group rung the bell winning five in-a-row and nine of the last 11 to go on top 2-0.
✅ 1,000 kills for @Marnie_Streeter
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CNathletics) November 3, 2018
✅ @katieparnell27 leads the team in blocks for the 10th straight match
✅ @CarsonNewmanVB SWEEP pic.twitter.com/vCZzwuo5LK
After dropping the first two points of the third set, the Eagles rattled off six straight to seize control. Despite L-R tying the tally at seven, C-N never trailed again winning six of the next seven to go ahead 13-8 giving the visitors the margin they needed. A kill from Edwards clinched the sweep.
On the night, C-N produced 43 kills on a .193 hitting clip with 55 digs, 10 blocks and six aces while L-R registered 34 smashes with a .101 margin, 49 scoops, two aces and seven rejections.
Megan Oldenburger (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) led all players with 14 kills adding 11 digs for her 14th double-double of the year, a number that paces the squad.
Edwards finished with eight kills hitting .333 with 3.5 blocks while Morgan Ballard (Weaverville, N.C.) more than doubled up any other player on the court with 23 digs.
Taylor Rohr (Windsor, Colo.) notched 21 assists and seven digs and Madison Rademacher (Broomfield, Colo.) had 15 helpers.
Angelica Arroyo led the Bears with 13 kills but committed eight attack errors as none of her teammates had more than seven kills.
Helen Hamilton added 23 assists, nine digs and a pair of blocks with Rachel Bewick leading the team with 10 digs.
The Eagles conclude the regular season Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. against Mars Hill. A victory would clinch the No. 4 seed and a home match in the SAC Tournament on Tuesday.
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