VIDEO: Julia Wheeler Interview
VIDEO: Abbey Hildenbrand Interview
ROCK HILL, S.C. – For the first time since 2015, Carson-Newman placed four players on All-South Atlantic Conference teams announced by the league on Wednesday. Julia Wheeler was a first-team pick, Abbey Hildenbrand earned a slot on the second team and Blake Cherry and Emmagrace Cobb each were tabbed third-team selections.
This season is the fourth time in school history that the club has at least four players on the top three teams joining the 2004 (four), 2014 (five) and 2015 (four) clubs. In 2015, the eventual region champs put three players on the top roster and one on the second team.
Wheeler, a second-team pick last year, has been one of the best players in the country this year ranking eighth in kills per set (4.44), ninth in points per set (4.91) and fifth in total kills (466). Her total kill tally is over 100 more than any other player in the SAC and is one of six players in the nation with at least 450. In the C-N record books, Wheeler's 4.44 kills per set average stands as the best in a single year passing Carly Mozgai's 4.17 set in 2010. The Murfreesboro, Tenn. native has the fifth-most kills for a single season in school history and needs 57 to break the all-time school record.
"Honestly I owe a lot of my success this season to being able to play beach last semester," Wheeler said. "It taught me how to be more calm as an athlete, find more shots and create more opportunities to get kills. I think that's how I've been able to lower my errors and up the kills."
This laurel marks the 12th in her first two years on campus as she has been in double figures for kills in 29 of the team's 30 matches leading the team in the category 28 times. Between last season and this year, Wheeler has increased her kills per set average by one and her hitting percentage by nearly 60 points. She has tallied 18 double-doubles and five matches with 20-plus kills.
The three-time SAC Offensive Player of the Week Matched a career-high with 27 kills, the second-most in a single match in school history, on a .348 hitting percentage adding 18 digs in a four-set win at Limestone on Sept. 10. Among a year of highlights, Wheeler notched a career-best .583 attack percentage with 14 kills on 24 swings in a sweep of Emory & Henry on Nov. 1.
Hildenbrand, one of the top overall players in the league, is second on the team in double-doubles with 15 with 10 in her final 13 matches of the season. In that time she has at least five smashes on 10 occasions and has been within two kills of a triple-double twice and within one once.
"It's really exciting," Hildenbrand said. "It's really cool to have teammates support me and have enough firepower to have a really good year. The trust that we have in each other and the ability to do our jobs no matter what the lineup is, do a collective job and go win games."
For her career, the Parker, Colo. Native has 3,399 assists, 1,116 digs and 317 kills sitting as one of the eight active Division II players with at least 3,000 assists and 1,000 digs. The 3,000th assist of her career came on Sept. 24 in a sweep of Anderson while she notched her 1,000th dig at No. 21 Wingate on Oct. 14. She has led the team in assists 18 times despite missing four matches with a wrist injury.
Of the standout matches, Hildenbrand finished a kill shy of a triple-double in a sweep of Lincoln Memorial on Oct. 4 with 14 assists, 10 digs and nine kills hitting .562. Two weeks later, she notched a season-high 45 assists adding 11 digs in a win over Tusculum on Oct. 18.
Cherry, a 2021 SAC All-Freshman team honoree, also improved upon her first year at C-N upping her kills average from 1.72 to 2.25 and her hitting percentage from .076 to .143. The Cookeville, Tenn. native is fifth in the conference in aces per set (0.43), eighth in total digs (332) and 12th in total kills (236).
In 30 matches, the sophomore has tallied at least 10 digs 15 times with eight double-doubles for the year. She has five of her nine double-digit kill efforts in her last eight matches including a career-high 17 in a sweep of Georgia College on Oct. 22. In a five-set win over Mars Hill on Oct. 25, she reset her career high with 28 digs to lead the team adding 10 kills and four block assists.
Cobb might have taken as big of a step forward as anyone in the league. After playing 35 total sets in 2021, the Greensboro, N.C. native is ninth in the SAC in blocks per set (0.85) and 12th in hitting percentage (.309). She had 53 total kills and 12 total blocks in her first two years before moving to the middle this season to post 1.77 kills per set and 89 total rejections. She has three double-digit kill matches and led the team in blocks 20 times.
The junior posted a career-high with 15.5 points bolstered by 10 kills and 5.5 total blocks in a five-set win over Mars Hill on Oct. 25 and tallied a .556 hitting percentage with 10 kills at the Lions on Sept. 13. She has recorded at least five overall blocks in five of her last nine outings.
The Eagles are back on the floor Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. playing Tusculum in the SAC Tournament semifinals. Fans can use their FloSports subscription or sign up for one to watch the every contest all season long. Follow along to @CN_Eagles on Twitter and Instagram for in-game updates.
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