GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – Returning to South Atlantic Conference action, Carson-Newman travels to Tusculum on Friday night for a 7 p.m. first serve before returning home to host UVA Wise Saturday at 2 p.m. from Holt Fieldhouse.
This weekend provides a small glimpse into how Carson-Newman's (6-6, 2-1) schedule has played out facing off against the top team in the league and the club at the bottom of the table. Tuesday night's win over Trevecca was the first victory over a team with a winning record as the six wins are against teams with a combined 19-42 record. Conversely, the six losses are against units that all have marks above .500 and are 50-17.
Friday night is the 64th Tennessee tussle with Tusculum (8-1, 4-0) and 30th in Greeneville as the Pioneers hold the overall lead at 33-30 and at home, 16-13. The Eagles have won the last two and five of the last seven. Each of the last three wins for the Pioneers have required five sets.
Due to scheduling in the spring, this will be the first meeting since 2019 when the Eagles swept the two meetings. C-N has won each of its last three treks to Pioneer Arena. Tusculum's last home win came on Oct. 25, 2016, a five-set win that spoiled a 19-kill night for Marnie Streeter.
After losing in four sets to open the year at Indiana (Pa.), Tusculum has won eight straight including a thrilling comeback win in five sets at Wingate on Sept. 11 when it trailed 2-0. It has won six straight home matches since the Eagles left with a four-set win on Nov. 2, 2019.
The Pioneers lead the conference and are 23rd in the country in aces per set averaging 2.21 but have had double-digit errors in each of the last six. In fact, the team has only recorded more aces than errors once, a sweep of Frostburg State when it had eight versus two misfires.
Emiah Burrowes, the reigning SAC Player of the Week, is third in the league in kills per set with 3.27 and Carli Pigza is seventh with a 3.03 margin. Burrowes has notched at least 13 blasts in six of the nine outings and had 45 kills on a .470 hitting percentage in three matches last week.
Saturday afternoon will be the fourth meeting against UVA Wise (3-7, 0-4) with the Eagles sweeping the season series in 2019 and winning in four sets on the road in the spring. Carson-Newman hit .265 with Megan Oldenburger and Emily Harnischfeger combining to produce 25 of the team's 53 kills.
Entering this weekend's action, the Cavaliers have lost 37 consecutive conference outings including all 34 matches since it joined the SAC. The last league win came during their Mountain East days beating Glenville State on Oct. 20, 2018 in straight sets. Of the losses the SAC clubs, 26 have been sweeps including three of the four in 2021.
The conference skid is currently the third-longest active mark in Division II with Purdue Northwest out of the GLIAC leading the list having lost 52 in a row and Saint Michael's losing 38 consecutive Northeast 10 matches.
Delving further into streaks a team would not want to be a part of, Wise has lost 29 road contests in a row, the second-longest mark behind Saint Michael's 42-match run. Once again you have to go back to 2018 to find the last road win, a five-set victory over Glenville State on Sept. 14.
This season the team has three wins beating Johnson C. Smith, Southern Wesleyan and Concord but have been swept five times out of the seven losses. For a team that ranks last in the league in four categories, efficiency is the biggest issue with the 19th-worst hitting percentage in the nation at .074 including three nights hitting below zero.
Cassidy Farley, a SAC All-Freshman team selection in the spring, paces the unit out of the middle with nearly three points per set but has yet to produce a match of double-digit kills. However she is far and away the leader in hitting percentage hitting .289.
Stats and video are available for Friday night's road match while Saturday's effort can be seen on the Eagle Sports Network by visiting cneagles.com/live with the stats available on cneagles.com/live.
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