JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – A pair of dominant wins launches Carson-Newman's 2022 campaign in the right direction after the Eagles defeat LMU in back-to-back matches.
Match One: C-N 4, LMU 1
Senior Lindsey Geurin and sophomore Taylor Keeran began the brisk morning off by winning a pair of sets to best LMU's Makayla Fox and Ketura Margaret in sets of 21-18 and 21-17.
The Lady Eagles followed up the effort with four straight winning sets by the duos of Jenny Ille and Alanis Mendez, winning 21-11 and 21-7. The pair of Morgan Siwiec and Julia Wheeler took care of business with a two set win by scores of 21-17 and 21-13, clinching the match for the Eagles.
Katie Cardenas and Kristin Moerhing would hand Carson-Newman their only loss as they bested Abbey Hildenbrand and Piper Halcrow in two sets 21-15 and 21-16 to give LMU their lone win of the day
Mia Toribio and Sierra Still went on to begin the final game strong by winning set one 21-8. The Eagle duo dropped the next set by a score of 21-19. The Railsplitter duo of Sevgi Koyuncu and Gabriela Abreu finally went down in the final set by a score of 15-10.
"It felt so good to finally have something to go off of after working so hard during the off-season," said Toribio.
Match Two: C-N 5, LMU 0
Geurin and Keeran once again began the match off with a dominating opening set victory of 21-9 followed by an overtime duel of 24-22 to grind out another win for the Sand Eagles. The duo of Keeran and Geurin would outscore their opponents with a total of 87-66 on the day.
Ille and Mendez put up another strong showing in their second outing by winning a pair of sets with scores of 21-8 and 21-9. On the day, Ille and Mendez wound up winning every set by double digits.
Wheeler and Siwiec win back-to-back overtime sets in their second appearance in the sand. The pair won the first set 23-21 and the second set 25-23, clinching the sweep against LMU.
Hildenbrand and Halcrow rebounded against the pair of Cardenas and Moerhing. The duo pulled off the sweep with scores of 21-19 and 21-18.
No. one position duo Toribio and Still finished the match defeating Abreu and Koyuncu in straight sets 21-6 and 21-18.
Second year coach Cat Lind improves her career record to 9-11. The Eagles have now won six straight home matches and have won three straight matches against Lincoln Memorial, sweeping the Railsplitters in two of those matches.
Carson Newman begins the 2022 season at 2-0 for the second straight year. LMU falls to 2-3 on the season.
The Eagles will look to continue their winning ways as they travel to Greeneville, Tennessee to compete in a tournament hosted by the Tusculum Pioneers. The Eagles will begin the weekend by facing Eastern Kentucky on Friday morning, followed by a doubleheader against the hosting Pioneers and UT Chattanooga on Saturday. Fans can find more information on the Carson-Newman beach volleyball team at cneagles.com
