VIDEO: Trinity Hafey and Kylee Oldenburger Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman beach volleyball won 3-2 in a last-match thriller over rival Tusculum this Wednesday.
The Eagles welcomed the Pioneers to Mossy Creek for the first time this season to complete the second match of their home-and-home series with Tusculum. In last week's meeting, the Eagles dominated the beach courts, securing a 4-1 victory. Tusculum looked to play spoiler to the Eagles' undefeated SAC/CC record.
"A lot of the mistakes we made today were just because it's Tusculum and we really don't get along," said head coach Cat Collins. "There's a lot of extra pressure and mental roadblocks that we don't typically have with other teams. There were unforced errors on our part. We had good ideas but did not execute them."
Tusculum gave the Eagles all they could handle, with the meet coming down to the final matchup of the day involving Trinity Hafey and Kylee Oldenburger.
"We knew what we had to do, and it came down to that match to win the day," said Hafey. "We really had to dig deep and pull together by focusing on our fundamentals."
Just before the final serves in the winning match, Jenny Ille and Paige Halcrow lost a close match, which then put the pressure on Hafey and Oldenburger to win the final set.
"We knew that we needed to play together and play our game," said Oldenburger. "We knew there was some pressure, so we had to come together and play well."
Match Results: C-N 3, Tusculum 2
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Brynn Smith/Hannah Marsh (TU) def. Jenny Ille/Paige Halcrow (C-N) 18-21, 21-12, 15-8
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Ava Fountain/Emerson Ahsmuhs (C-N) def. Mia Johnson/Kassidy Mercado (TU) 21-11, 21-17
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Trinity Hafey/Kylee Oldenburger (C-N) def. Ryann Gallagher/Morgan Willis (TU) 19-21, 21-17, 19-17
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Katie Murphy/Nyah Goss (TU) def. Morgan Foy/Camryn Ehlers (C-N) 23-21, 21-19
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Addie Smith/Kat Nelson (C-N) def. Landry Tea/Kyla Oppenhuis (TU) 21-16, 21-19
Carson-Newman takes the courts again this Saturday, March 29, for the Eagles' Senior Day. Senior Day festivities will begin at 11:30 a.m. prior to the match against Spartanburg Methodist.
To keep up to date with Carson-Newman Beach Volleyball, you can follow us on social media @CN_Eagles on X and Instagram or Facebook by following Carson-Newman Athletics. You can also log on to cneagles.com.
