SALISBURY, N.C. - The Carson-Newman beach volleyball team travels to the Tarheel State for the inaugural SAC Beach Challenge to wrap up the 2021 season.
The Eagles will play three matches in two days, taking on host Catawba on Friday, Apr. 30 at 5:30 PM before facing Lincoln Memorial at 11:00 AM and Tusculum at 4:00 PM on Saturday, May 1.
"We're fired up to compete this weekend," says head coach Cat Lind. "The girls want it and we think we can make it happen this weekend. LMU will have great ball control but I'm looking forward to see us compete not just with our skill but with our brains."
Carson-Newman is coming off an 0-5 weekend at the 2021 AVCA Small College Beach Championships in Tavares, Fla. The Eagles dropped all three matches in their pool to eventual national champion Tampa, Colorado Mesa and Catawba before dropping the challenge match to Florida Southern. Tusculum eliminated the Eagles from the tournament with a 4-1 win in the first round of the Silver Bracket.
Despite the poor team showing, Abby Struewing and Sierra Still finished the weekend in Florida with a 4-1 record. The wins pushed Struewing to 21 all-time career wins, the most in program history, and advanced Still's record on the year to 11-4, already tying her for third most wins in a single season. The pair picked up a three-set win against the no. two pair from Tampa, the Spartan pair's only loss until they fell in the national championship match against Spring Hill.
At the no. two position, @abby_struewing and @sierrastill1 earn the hard fought victory in three sets
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CNathletics) April 16, 2021
⚔️ @TampaBeachVB 4
�� #CNBV 1
FINAL pic.twitter.com/5B4ZifbTOI
Catawba College enters the weekend with a 7-8 record after picking up two wins over Sandhills Community College. The Indians went 1-4 at AVCA, their only win a 3-2 win over Carson-Newman. In the match, the Eagles took an early 2-0 lead with wins by Summer Coulter and Megan Oldenburger at the no. one position and by Still and Struewing at the no. two position. The Indians won the final three matches, including a pair of three-set wins at the no. four and no. five positions to clinch the match.
The pair of Arianna Colon and Payton Medich lead Catawba with a 7-4 record, playing the majority of their matches at the no. four position.
Lincoln Memorial enters the weekend with a 3-3 record following a sweep over Huntingdon. The Railsplitters did not play their first match until Apr. 17, a 5-0 win over Spartanburg Methodist College. The Splitters have dropped a pair of contests to Stevenson and to Division I Liberty.
LMU and Carson-Newman have met the most times in program history, with the Splitters holding a 10-4 advantage. The two teams split last season, facing each other at LaGrange College in Georgia, with Carson-Newman winning 3-2 on Mar. 6, 2020 and LMU winning 3-2 on Mar. 7, 2020. Coulter and Oldenburger were the only Eagle pair to earn wins in both meetings.
Tusculum and Carson-Newman will meet for the third time this season at the third different venue. The Pioneers and Eagles first met on Mar. 13 in Jefferson City with Carson-Newman earning their first ever win over Tusculum, a 3-1 decision in a contest that was shortened due to darkness.
The long-time rivals met again in Tavares, Fla. for the opening round of the Silver Bracket at the AVCA Small College Championships on Apr. 18. Despite taking a 1-0 lead on four of the five courts, only Struewing and Still were able to earn a win against the Pioneers, falling 4-1. The Pioneers finished the weekend 1-5 at AVCA, falling in the Silver Bracket semifinals to Wayne State.
Tusculum leads the all-time series 6-1. The Pioneers and Eagles have played each other on five different courts in five different states.
Tusculum enters the weekend at 4-9. The pairs of Skyler Hall and Emily Lawless and Haley Davis and Emma Johnson lead the team, both with 6-7 records.
If the Eagles win one match this weekend, they will be guaranteed to finish the season with the second most wins in a season in program history. The team finished the 2020 season with a 6-1 record and finished the 2016 season with an 11-12 record.
