JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Eagle sophomore outside hitter Rachel Harper (Chattanooga, Tenn.) whipped 22 kills and picked up 25 digs, but Newberry (13-10, 7-5 SAC) picked up a five-set (26-24, 22-25, 25-19, 18-25, 15-9) victory over Carson-Newman (8-11, 2-8 SAC) Friday night at Holt Fieldhouse. 

The 25-dig effort is a season high for Harper and continues a three match streak where the sophomore has picked up double figure digs.  During that span, Harper has picked up two of her three double-doubles.

Sabina Papala (Laziska Gorne, Poland) matched a season high defending the front of the net with six blocks - five solo and two assisted.  Ashley Ferris (Knoxville, Tenn.) contributed seven kills and a .429 hit percentage for a solid day for C-N's middles.

"Ferris had a lot of touches on blocks.  I loved her positive spirit," Carson-Newman head coach Shannon Mincey said. "Sabina blocked well too and became hot offensively in the fourth set."

Reigning SAC Player of the Week Sam Parrish sent in a match high 23 kills to go along with 20 digs for a double-double for Newberry. 

The Eagles got a 30-dig performance from Angelle Hayes (Brentwood, Tenn.).  The senior libero is averaging 7.88 d/s over the Eagles last four matches.

"We actually won the sets where I made a lineup change," Mincey said. "So it was good to see the team respond well to a change up."

Carson-Newman outhit (.177-.147), out blocked (12-10) and out dug (90-81) the Wolves, but ultimately a four point Elayni Stokes service run was too much for the Eagles to overcome in the firth set as Newberry picked up a 10-5 lead and extended it to a 15-9 final set victory. 

Carson-Newman is 0-5 this year in five-set matches.

"Tough loss tonight," Mincey said. "Our team will have to challenge ourselves to stay alive for a seeding in tournament play."

The Eagles turn around to face Anderson Saturday at 2 p.m. at Holt Fieldhouse.  Live stats and video will be available at cneagles.com.   

-CN-