WEAVERVILLE, N.C. – The Carson-Newman College Volleyball Team (16-7, 9-3 SAC) defeated Mars Hill College (9-14, 2-12 SAC) by a 3-0 (25-21, 25-15, 25-22) margin Tuesday night in South Atlantic Conference action to take sole position of second place in league play. The contest was played at North Buncombe High School due to a leak in the roof at Stanford Arena on the campus of Mars Hill.

With the victory, Head Coach Shannon Mincey has won 122 matches at the helm of the Lady Eagle program, making her the winningest volleyball coach in C-N history.

Carson-Newman jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the first set behind a five-point serving run by freshman libero Angelle Hayes (Brentwood, Tenn.). Mars Hill was able to close the gap, tying the score at 11. The Lady Eagles pushed a late lead to 23-16, but five points by the Lions made the score 23-21 before C-N put the set away.

The Lady Eagles played their best period of the night during the second set. Carson-Newman boasted an attack of .273 (14-2-44) compared to just .053 (8-6-38) by Mars Hill to cruise to the 25-15 set win.

Mars Hill would not go quietly into the night. The Lions led for the first time on the night as they took a 7-3 lead in the third set. C-N tied the stanza at 11, but Mars Hill responded to stretch its lead to 19-14. Down, 22-20, the Lady Eagles scored the next five points to seal the victory for the night.

“Both teams were trying to find a groove in a neutral gym tonight,” said Mincey. “Although we were behind in the third set, we shuffled our lineup and remained steady.”

Senior setter Stephanie Cutter (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) led the way for Carson-Newman as she posted 19 assists, nine kills and eight digs while senior middle Katie Troyer (Plain City, Ohio) and junior outside hitter Carly Mozgai (Greensboro, N.C.) recorded nine kills each as well

Hayes had a match-high 27 digs and sophomore right side Nikki James (Cookeville, Tenn.) led all players with four blocks for the Lady Eagles.

Evie Tafunai (Edwardsburg, Mich.) recorded 11 kills and 14 digs to pace Mars Hill while Sarah Paquette (Swannanoa, N.C.) dished out 14 assists and had 11 digs. Kelly Koziel (New Carlisle, Ind.) had 18 digs to lead the Lions.

“Our focus must shift to this weekend as we prepare for senior weekend and two important conference matches,” concluded Mincey. “We will rely on our maturity and leadership to play consistently this weekend.”

Carson-Newman returns to Holt Fieldhouse for a three-match streak beginning Friday evening at 6:30 p.m., against Lenoir-Rhyne University. The Lady Eagles will honor their five seniors before the contest that will also kick off the “Carson-Newman Dig For The Cure” campaign that will raise money to support breast cancer research.