FLORENCE, S.C. – The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles won both of their matches on Saturday afternoon at the Francis Marion Invitational, beating Erskine, 3-1, and sweeping Francis Marion, 3-0.
The Lady Eagles finish the tournament 3-1 to open the 2011 season.
Carson-Newman 3, Erskine 1 (25-16, 25-17, 16-25, 25-12)
Senior middle Nikki James (Cookeville, Tenn.) had nine kills and 13 blocks to control the net and lead the Lady Eagles to a 3-1 win over Erskine in their first match of the day.
James fueled a fast start for the Lady Eagles, who won the first two sets convincingly. Erskine rallied to win the third set, 25-16, and stay in the match.
C-n would overwhelm the Flying Fleet in the fourth, 25-12, to pick up its second win of the season.
Freshmen Ashley Ferris (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Lauren Santarelli (Colorado Springs, Colo.), along with sophomore Lindsay Bryant (Gainesville, Ga.) all had seven in a balanced Lady Eagle offensive attack.
Junior libero Angelle Hayes (Brentwood, Tenn.) led C-N with 25 digs, while fellow junior Rachael Bowlin (Morristown, Tenn.) had 17.
Carson-Newman 3, Francis Marion 0 (26-24, 27-25, 25-15)
Freshman Lauren Santarelli (Colorado Springs, Colo.) led the Lady Eagles with 11 kills and senior Carly Swisher (Fort Collins, Colo.) added 10 kills as the Lady Eagles won two tight opening sets and then rolled in the third to beat Francis Marion, 3-0.
C-N edged the Patriots in extra points in each of the first two sets before controlling the third and final set, 25-15.
Senior middle Nikki James (Cookeville, Tenn.) added six kills and four blocks.
Freshman Kristen Pickett (Cleveland, Tenn.) led the Lady Eagles with 23 assists, while libero Angelle Hayes (Brentwood, Tenn.) led C-N with 29 digs.
C-N returns to action on Friday in its home and South Atlantic Conference opener against SAC-rival Wingate. The match begins at 7 p.m. in Holt Fieldhouse.
-C-N-
C-N Head Coach Shannon Mincey on her team at the FMU Tournament
"Our team had an opportunity to experience just about every scenario we could face this this weekend; winning in three, winning in four, being down 0-2 and coming back with an opportunity to win in the fifth set…This is what we had hoped for out of our preseason tournament. Our group progressively played better and better each set. We are so new to each other still and with so many new faces on our team it was nice to see how quickly we clicked…We hate to come back with a loss, however falling behind 0-2 against UNC Pembroke helped us feel confident. We know now we can make a comeback…This week we will prepare for our first conference match up. Wingate and Catawba have always been big rivalries of ours."
