VIDEO: Maddie Zyburt Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn.—The Carson-Newman Eagles (23-5, 16-3) needed three sets to take care of arch-rival and South Atlantic Conference foe Tusculum (11-14, 8-11) Tuesday night, sweeping the Pioneers in straight sets to give coach Dan Ahiers his 50th career win.
The milestone victory came in his 62nd career contest, making the second-year coach the fastest to reach the 50-win mark in Carson-Newman history by 22 matches. Former Eagle coach Shannon Mincey was the previous fastest coach to eclipse the 50 win-mark, doing so in her 84th career coaching match.
"Getting 50 wins is incredible and it's awesome being here at Carson-Newman," coach Dan Ahiers said. "The support that we get here- the players- it is just an easy place to get 50 wins. It's not just me. I had great players last year, I have great players this year, and I have a great coaching staff. It's the people around me that have made the 50 wins happen, not just me."
Carson-Newman controlled the action throughout the three-set sweep against Tusculum, as the Eagles held the Pioneers to a .088 attacking percentage on 33 kills for the night. The Eagles out blocked the Pioneers eight to four and accumulated 38 kills while attacking .165 in the contest.
Freshman middle blocker Natalie Harris (Monroe, N.C.) led the way for Carson-Newman with three solo blocks, while senior outside hitter Sara Fairley (Charlotte, N.C.) and senior outside hitter Molly Locke (College Grove, Tenn.) each contributed one a piece. Locke and Harris were the only Eagles to record double-digit kills in the three-set sweep as Locke tallied 13 and Harris added 10.
Freshman libero Maddie Zyburt (Plainfield, Ill.) had a team-high 21 digs as she outplayed the nation's dig per sets leader, Melissa Mazur, who had only 11 on the night. Freshman libero Megan Morris (Mount Pleasant, S.C.) also accounted for 10 digs in the match.
"Just staying focused on being where we need to be and staying confident is a really big thing for us," Zyburt said following the win. "Third party communication is really big for us. We struggled a little bit, but we got back into it throughout the whole match."
In a match that featured 15 ties and eight lead changes, Carson-Newman was in control throughout by taking the first set 25-18 and the second and third sets 25-23. The only time the Eagles were down by a great sum was in the second set, when Tusculum jumped out to a 5-2 lead right out of the gate, and the third set when the Pioneers' lead crept up to six.
The only set in which the Eagles attacked for less than .200 was in set three, when Carson-Newman only had a .083 attacking percentage in the frame. Errors continued to hinder Tusculum throughout the match, as the Pioneers issued seven and nine errors in the final two sets which enabled the Eagles to battle back and take the sets.
"It is fun playing Tusculum. It is fun playing LMU. They are great rivalry games no matter where we play," Ahiers said. "Chief [Michael Robinson] had them absolutely ready to play tonight."
Ahiers continued to mix and match his lineups into the third set in order to find the best combination heading into the home stretch of the SAC schedule. The coach credits his players to being open on continuing to get better.
"We want to make sure that we have the perfect lineup," Aihers said. "We want to make sure that in practice and in game-like situations, we are still pushing to have the best players out there. We compete every day in practice and we compete every day for those starting lineups."
Carson-Newman will be at it again this weekend, as the team travels to Newberry and Anderson before returning home for Senior Day against Mars Hill on November 15th.
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