LaGRANGE, Ga.— Carson-Newman (6-1) ends their longest winning streak at five after picking up their first loss to Lincoln Memorial (5-3) on Saturday morning. The Railsplitters defeated the Eagles 3-2 in their final match-up of the weekend.
In the midst of a loss, the Eagles sought out a 5-0 sweep over Huntingdon College (5-6) to add another tally in their win column.
"Overall, the weekend was really good. I think it was good for this team to see a loss against a competitive team this early in the season," Carson-Newman interim beach volleyball coach Lucy Pennington-Russell said.
"We fought the match with intensity, mental focus, and a high level of beach IQ. LMU is a highly skilled and competitive team that pushed us today," said Pennington-Russell.
Dual One: Carson-Newman 2, Lincoln Memorial 3
Summer Coulter (El Paso, Texas) and Megan Oldenburger (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) opened up the morning at the number one flight with a close two set sweep. The Eagles duo defeated Lindsey Nartker and Rylee Storms 21-19, 22-20.
At the No. 2 spot, Maddison Bishop (Olathe, Kansas) and Lindsey Geurin (Clearwater Beach, Fla.) fell to Yileen Ng He and Emma Winford in consecutive sets 21-12, 21-16.
The pairing of Abby Struewing (Lebanon, Ohio) and Mia Toribio (Spring, Texas) lost their first dual this season at the No. 3 seed. The Orange and Blue grouping started off strong with a 21-18 defeat over Gabriela Abreu and Sarah Jones. The Railsplitters duo jumped forward in the second frame, leaving the score 21-14 and forcing a third set. A teeter-tottering tie breaker fell in favor of Lincoln Memorial, leaving the score 18-16.
A similar result occurred at the No. 4 flight. Joy Rhodes (Youngsville, N.C.) and Morgan Siwiec (Toms River, N.J.) defeated Emily Walter and Caitlin Bethell 21-15 in the first set, but fell just shy in the next two, 21-17 and 17-15. This gave the Railsplitters the outright win tallying the score 3-1.
The last grouping of the day, Kelly Hughes (Woodbridge, Va.) and Hayden Barton (Hixson, Tenn.) beat Sierrah Lemons and Karlie Brown in consecutive sets 21-15 and 21-19.
Dual Two: Carson-Newman 5, Huntingdon 0
Carson-Newman went back to their comfortable winning position with a sweep over Huntingdon College.
Oldenburger and Coulter competed in a quick 21-13, 21-12 two set win over Amy Tyma and April Reese.
Bishop and Geurin handily defeated Shelby Freese and Jessica Brink in the first set, 21-9. The Hawks gained momentum but it was not enough to stop the Eagles' pairing. The Orange and Blue won in a close second set 23-21.
Back at No. 3, Streuwing and Toribio beat Addison Genard and Lauren Hinton in identical sets both resulting in 21-13.
Shelby McAllister and Morgan Ilsley lost in another pair of duplicate scoring sets of 21-19 to Siwiec and Rhodes at the No. 5 flight.
To round out the day, Hughes and Barton won their first set 21-14. ZaKira Landrum and Ashanti Thomas were unable to stop the Eagles' energy, and lost the second set 21-9. This concluded the match and gave Carson-Newman the five match sweep over Huntingdon College.
"I think there are some fundamental and minor tweaking we need to do before the Coastal Carolina weekend, but overall, this weekend made me really excited to see how this team grows throughout the rest of the season." said Pennington- Russell.
The Eagles are on the road again next weekend at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, S.C. They will compete on Friday March 13th and Saturday the 14th against Coastal Carolina University and College of Charleston in a four match dual.
