JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn.— Carson-Newman picked up its second win of the season in another split day on the C-N Sand Courts on Sunday afternoon to close out its first home tournament of the year.
The Eagles (2-14) clinched a second win in as many days over Eastern Kentucky (0-10) to start the day. All but one pairing won versus the Colonels' groupings, leaving the final score 4-1.
C-N faced a 3-2 heartbreaking loss to Tusculum (7-10) in the later part of the day. This is the closest decision the Eagles have seen against the Pioneers through four meetings this season, still searching for a win against the first-year program.
"This was a huge weekend for our team," Director of beach volleyball Dave Franklin said. "As a young program and young team always looking for those checkpoints culturally and competitively, we hit a couple of those this weekend."
Match 1: C-N 4, Eastern Kentucky 1
Taryn Nichols and Dilyn Palmer started the day at the No. 5 seed. They lost in two sets 21-18, 21-11 to Clarissa Hankinson and Mikayla Logan, giving the Colonels their only win of the day.
At the No. 4 seed was the new duo of Montgomery Sauter and Lexy Headly. The two tallied their first win as a pairing in two sets over Rachel Woody and Kennedy Wilson, 21-17, 21-14.
The No. 3 tandem of Aryana Fazelina and Kelly Hughes snagged their fourth win of the season in a two-set victory over Maria Ferragonio and Kaylin Johnson. The Eagles' group took the first set, 21-12, and continued their energy into the second set, 21-17.
Grace Seymour and Morgan Siwiec beat Sydney Schoen and K. Caserma-Kloeble at the No. 2 flight. The C-N twosome won the first set 21-14 and smashed the Colonels pair 21-10 in the second set, giving the Orange and Blue the outright win over Eastern Kentucky with a 3-1 lead.
Carson-Newman's top-seeded duo, Summer Coulter and Abby Struewing, competed against Dena Tekavec and Jovana Bulatovic, taking down the EKU pair with back-to-back 21-17 sets to close out the victory.
Match 2: Tusculum 3, C-N 2
Katelyn Weems and Jordan Zaleski defeated Nichols and Palmer at the No. 5 flight in back-to-back sets 21-15, 21-13 to put the Pioneers on the board early.
Sauter and Headly gave C-N a positive outcome at the No. 4 spot. The twosome beat Lydia Collins and Catherine Clingman 21-16, 21-12 to give themselves their second win as a new pairing.
At the No. 3 seed, Aryana Fazleina and Kelly Hughes won the first set 21-18 against Marissa Morgan and Lana Vujosevic. The Eagles' couple brought the heat into the second set and won an intense 24-22 game, handing C-N the 2-1 lead going into the final two flights.
Seymour and Siwiec were unable to clinch a win over Skyellar Hall and Gabby Gray. The Eagles' duo lost 21-18, 21-17 at the No. 2 position tying the overall score at two matches apiece.
The breakeven match-up of C-N's Coulter and Struewing against Melissa Mazur and Hayley Davis fell in favor of the Pioneers. The Eagles started strong with a first set win 21-18 but fell in a close second set 21-19 to force a final deciding set. Tusculum took the third set 15-6 to secure the win for the day 3-2.
"I'm a super proud coach and we are excited to get back in the sand on Tuesday after strengthening our relationships on Monday," Franklin said.
The Eagles will once again host a weekend tournament, this time welcoming Stevenson and Lincoln Memorial to the C-N Sand Courts. That two-day event will kickoff Saturday against Stevenson at 9 a.m.
