JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – With six matches remaining in the regular season, Carson-Newman returns home to play two of its final three affairs at Holt Fieldhouse hosting Anderson on Thursday at 6 p.m. and Newberry on Friday at 7 p.m. in South Atlantic Conference play.
Entering the week, the Eagles have won nine of their last 12 matches with a trio of three-match winning strings in the mix. In that time, the team is hitting the ball more efficiently with a .195 team clip posting 12.64 kills per set on top of posting 17.23 digs and 1.78 blocks per set.
Carson-Newman (15-10, 8-4) is looking to win four in a row for the first time since the start of the spring season while two wins would move the team's SAC winning streak to five for the first time since a span of six from Oct. 26 to Nov. 9, 2019.
Thursday is the 31st meeting with Anderson (14-6, 9-3) with the Trojans holding a narrow 16-14 edge in the series but the Eagles holding the advantage on the year thanks to a four-set win 11 days ago. Julia Wheeler (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) racked up 23 kills on an eye-popping .367 attack percentage adding 13 digs and Abbey Hildenbrand (Parker, Colo.) dished out 44 assists with six digs and four service aces to guide the Eagles offensively to a .144 hitting percentage.
Coach Todd Hay's team has left Mossy Creek with wins in each of the last two seasons winning in four frames on April 4. The last time the Eagles won at home against the Trojans was on Oct. 12, 2018, a sweep backed by 11 kills and a .360 margin by Megan Oldenburger.
Anderson has won six of its last seven matches with five sweeps in that time but the lone blemish was the loss to the Orange and Blue on Oct. 16. The team is 6-2 on the road this year with four straight victories since losing in four frames to Tusculum on Sept. 18.
Continuing to lead the league in hitting percentage, the club is No. 35 in the nation with a .241 tally. The Trojans have hit above .200 15 times and has as more nights of a .300 percentage as hitting below .200 with, six to five with a .320 and .350 tally in each of the last two.
Three players rank in the top five of the conference in hitting percentage led by Jaelyn Grimm's .341 tally as she has double-digit smashes in three of her last four affairs. In eight October outings, Grimm is averaging 2.77 kills per set and is hitting .414.
Carson-Newman and Newberry (9-10, 4-8) are squaring off for the 50th time with the Eagles dominating the series holding a 39-10 lead with wins in seven straight. C-N has dropped five total sets in that stretch and is looking to avoid its first loss to the Wolves since falling in five at Eleazer Arena on Sept. 15, 2017.
Wheeler racked up 26 kills in a four-set win over the Wolves on Oct. 15 hitting .333 with 14 digs to become the first Eagle in the 25-point rally scoring era with back-to-back matches of 25-plus kills. The Eagles finished the night with a .266 hitting percentage blasting 63 kills.
The Wolves have won one of their seven conference matches sweeping Lincoln Memorial on Oct. 16 and are 2-5 in road matches losing three in a row since beating UVA Wise in three games on Sept. 18. All of the losses have come in straight stanzas.
Natasha Bannister is the only player in the league to post more kills per set than Wheeler with 3.68 while hitting .268 but despite posting nearly four kills per frame in October she is hitting .207 in her last seven. Overall the outside hitter two contests with 20-plus kills and has 13 double-digit nights in her last 15 after failing to hit that mark in the first three.
Both matches will feature a video broadcast on cneagles.com/live as the Eagle Sports Network provides the sights and sounds from the friendly confines.
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