SALISBURY, N.C. – Carson-Newman closed out the 2019 regular season Saturday evening at Goodman Gym with its 14th sweep of the year running past Catawba 25-20, 25-19 and 25-18 finishing the South Atlantic Conference regular season fourth in the league's standings.
"I am proud of the tenacity this team showed today," Carson-Newman coach Ashley Tiernan said. "We held ourselves to a high standard and kept each other accountable."
Carson-Newman (22-7, 16-6) beats Catawba (7-19, 5-17) for the sixth consecutive meeting and the 12th time in the last 14 meetings. Eight of those affairs have come in straight sets including five of the last six.
Erin Edwards (Midlothian, Va.) led all players in the match with 11 kills registering a .323 hitting percentage with 1.5 blocks. Megan Oldenburger (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) was not far behind with nine kills on a .292 clip with 13 digs.
Taylor Rohr (Windsor, Colo.) handed out 21 assists with eight digs and Morgan Ballard (Weaverville, N.C.) produced 15 scoops.
The Eagles tallied 40 kills on a .246 hitting percentage with 64 digs, 11 aces and eight blocks versus 32 smashes, a .092 margin, 59 scoops, seven aces and three rejections.
1⃣1⃣ kills for @erinedwards31
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CNathletics) November 17, 2019
1⃣5⃣ digs for @MorganFaith21
2⃣1⃣ assists for @trohr14
3⃣.5⃣ blocks for @katieparnell27
It all adds up to win No. 2⃣2⃣ for @CarsonNewmanVB. pic.twitter.com/1s9vsFB8IU
Tiernan's troop came out of the gates firing on all cylinders winning the first six rallies of the day. Catawba answered back by tying the tally at seven before C-N won seven of the next eight to take control of the first. An illegal set clinched the first for the visitors.
The second stanza was the tightest of the night with five ties and three lead changes. It was a 14-14 contest when C-N reeled off seven straight points to go ahead 21-14 cruising to victory on a service ace from Elena Vasquez (Riverside, Calif.).
Catawba surged to a 7-3 lead in the third set and was ahead 9-5 when the Eagles won nine of 12 to take a 14-12 edge. The margin was never tied again as back-to-back aces from Oldenburger sealed the sweep.
Claire Kellum led the offense for the Indians with 10 kills on 38 swings adding 13 digs. She was one of four players with double-digit digs with Malia Carr leading the way with 16. Morgan Hester was the star for the home side with 25 assists and 13 digs.
The Eagles are the No. 4 seed in the SAC Quarterfinals and will host fifth-seeded Mars Hill Tuesday night at 7 p.m. inside of Holt Fieldhouse. Broadcast coverage can be found on cneagles.com/live from the Eagle Sports Network.
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