Seven Eagles recognized with All-SAC laurels

Posted: Apr 27, 2022

ROCK HILL, S.C. – Carson-Newman added to it's league-record of overall All-South Atlantic Conference honorees with seven all-league laurels, the league office announced Tuesday morning.

Carson-Newman's seven recognitions are the second-most in school history, tied with the 2004, 1999 and 1998 teams. They sit behind the 1992 team that won 27 straight games and received eight All-SAC honorees.

Emily Harris (Cumming, Ga.), Natalie Corbin (Tybee Island, Ga.) and Leah Sohm (Knoxville, Tenn.) all made the first team. Macey Hughes (Corryton, Tenn.) and Mary Vandergriff (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) received second-team honors. Rounding out the Eagles' selections on the third team were SieAnna Cameron (Alcoa, Tenn.) and Carmen Holt (Lawrenceburg, Ky.)

Harris has been one of the most prolific hitters in the country. Harris, NCAA Division II's active hits leader, sits on 327 knocks coming into the conference tournament. She's 14th in NCAA Division II history for career hits. Four more hits will move her into a tie for 11th all-time with Christa Reisinger of Truman.

Harris leads the nation with 78 knocks, Harris has the fourth highest batting average (.494) in the country.

Harris needs two more hits to join the 80-hit club at C-N. Only four players in program history have produced 80 or more hits in a year (Carol Zachary Mitchell, Kelli Hensley, Jessie Howard and Sammi Hatcher Chafin).

She has 16 doubles this season, four off the single-season school record. The senior has a whopping 29 multi-hit efforts, including four-hit day against King (Feb. 19). She matched a school and SAC record with three doubles against Emmanuel (Feb. 6).

Harris has produced a trio of double-digit hitting streaks, topping out at 11 consecutive games. She has not gone back-to-back games without a hit this season.

Leah Sohm makes her second appearance on the all-conference teams after being named to the honorable mention club a year ago. Sohm is hitting .398 this season with 68 hits, six doubles, six triples and two inside-the-park home runs.

Her 36 stolen bases are the fourth most in a single-season in school history. Sohm produced a career-long 13-game hitting streak earlier this season. She has 20 multi-hit games, including a school-record five-hit day against Shorter (Feb. 12). She drove in a career-high four RBI against both the Hawks and the Catawba Indians.

Natalie Corbin scuffled in early February and was hitting .278 after Feb. 25. However, the Young Harris transfer quickly found her stroke with a streak of 15 games where she hit successfully in 14 to bring her average north of .370. In that stretch, Corbin has eight, three-hit games.

Corbin has 17 multi-hit efforts this season, including her first career four-hit day against No. 13 Anderson (April 21).

The junior has stolen 25 bags in 26 attempts. Corbin ranks second on the team with four outfield assists.

She hit an inside-the-park grand slam against West Virginia State and had another inside-the-park home run against Queens.

After earning first team All-SAC honors last year as an outfielder, Macey Hughes collects second team honors at first base behind league player of the year Kayson Boatner (Anderson).

Hughes has put up prodigious offensive numbers. Hughes is sixth in the country with 60 RBI this season. Hughes has four games this year with at least four RBI and three with five or more. With two games remaining in the regular season, Hughes is 15 RBI away from Brittany Hefner's (2013) school and SAC record 75 RBI for a single season. Hughes is tied with Sara Kelley for the fifth most RBI in a single season in school history, two more and she'll draw level with Hall of Famer Whitney Hickam Cruze.

Hughes has hit 13 home runs this season, she has the 17th double-digit home run season in school history and is tied for fourth in school history for a single season with Lindsay Dean (2016) for fourth. Her 14th will draw her level with Elayna Siebert (2015) for third, while her 15th would put her even with Staci Fish (2001) for second. Brittany Hefner (2013) holds the single-season record with 19.

The sophomore has hit .401 with 15 doubles, two triples and 13 blasts. She has also stolen four bases.

Mary Vandergriff earns All-SAC honors for the first time in her career. Vandergriff has been especially good in league play. In SAC matchups, Vandergriff is hitting .391 with six doubles and two home runs, including a walk-off blast against Mars Hill.

The sophomore from Soddy Daisy, Tenn. set a career high against Lenoir-Rhyne when she produced her first three-hit day. She also drove in a season-best three runs against the 23^rd-ranked Bears.

Overall, Vandergriff is hitting .319 with 10 two-base hits and three home runs. She has a team-leading seven sacrifice bunts.

Cameron makes her first appearance on the All-SAC teams after a season that has been hampered by a wrist injury which caused her to miss two and a half weeks of action.

Even with that, Cameron has the fifth-highest batting average in the league, hitting .418 with 51 hits. She has also stroked eight doubles and legged out four triples. Carson-Newman is 21-1 this year when Cameron scores a run.

She hit safely in 16 consecutive games this season to match the fifth-longest hitting streak in program history.

All told she has 14 multi-hit efforts and seven multi-RBI games. Cameron enters the SAC tournament having hit safely in six of her last seven games.

After appearing in just 10 games in her first three seasons at C-N, Holt has cemented herself as an all-conference designated player. The senior has hit .298 this year with sevn doubles and a triple while driving in 25 runs.

She has 11 multi-hit games this season, including her first three-hit day against UVA Wise (March 22) – a day in which she also drove in four runs for the first time in her career.