November 5, 2015

Final regular season trek sends Eagles to Palmetto State

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – In their final road trip of the regular season, the Carson-Newman Eagles (23-5, 16-3 South Atlantic Conference) travel to the Palmetto State for matches against the Newberry Wolves (9-14, 5-12 SAC) Friday at 7 p.m. and the Anderson (S.C.) Trojans (10-14, 8-10 SAC) Saturday at 2 p.m.

Carson-Newman

24-5, 17-3 SAC

Newberry

9-15, 5-13 SAC

Final

Carson-Newman 24-5, 17-3 SAC

Newberry 9-15, 5-13 SAC

Carson-Newman

24-5, 17-3 SAC

Anderson (S.C.)

10-16, 8-12 SAC

Final

Carson-Newman 24-5, 17-3 SAC

Anderson (S.C.) 10-16, 8-12 SAC

VIDEO: Kirby Toribio Interview

Carson-Newman Volleyball Match Notes

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – In their final road trip of the regular season, the Carson-Newman Eagles (23-5, 16-3 South Atlantic Conference) travel to the Palmetto State for matches against the Newberry Wolves (9-14, 5-12 SAC) Friday at 7 p.m. and the Anderson (S.C.) Trojans (10-14, 8-10 SAC) Saturday at 2 p.m.

"At any time any team in the SAC obviously it's going to be a great competition," Carson-Newman assistant coach Kirby Toribio said. "Anderson and Newberry are both great teams, both well-coached. We prepare well and we don't take anything lightly."

The Eagles are looking to finish in the top-two in the league for the second straight year for the first time since both the 2008 and 2009 teams finished second. The longest streak of top-two finishes came from 2001-2003 with second-place finishes sandwiched around the Eagles lone regular season title in 2002.

After being ranked third in the first Southeast Region rankings yesterday, the Eagles are focusing on the next match and improving themselves.

"We are always trying to climb," Toribio said. "We are always trying to get better. No matter what our goal is to make it to [the NCAA] Tournament so we are excited. Our goal is to continue to get better and do whatever it takes to get the highest seed that we can."

Carson-Newman doesn't have a more lopsided all-time series than the one with Newberry as the Eagles are 42-7. The Eagles swept the Wolves at Holt Fieldhouse on October 2 marking the first time since 2012 that a match between the two programs didn't reach five sets. As a team Newberry tallied 29 kills and 21 attack errors in a match where it hit .066.

Three Eagles finished with double-doubles in the match as senior outside hitter Molly Locke (College Grove, Tenn.) piled up 21 kills and 11 digs while hitting .439 marking the second time this year the senior surpassed 20 kills in a match. Newberry was led by Logan Hayward's 10 kills and 11 digs and Maggie Marsh's 24 assists and seven digs.

Newberry has lost 12 of its last 15 matches and was swept six times in the month of October, but the Wolves are 6-6 at home this year.

As a team, the Wolves are 25th in Division averaging 18.18 digs per set on the year while being led by freshman libero Kensley Jordan's 4.73 digs per set, fourth-most in the league.

Ranking 208th out of 283 teams, Newberry is hitting .151 on the year with its highest hitting percentage in a single game coming against Coker and UNC Pembroke at .218.

The Eagles hold a slight 9-8 edge in the all-time series with the Trojans including a four-set victory inside of Holt Fieldhouse on October 3. Junior middle blocker Maddie Borch (Walnut Creek, Calif.) led all players with a career-high 14 kills in the match hitting .375 along the way with four digs and a solo block. Anderson hit just .060 as a group and was led by Priscilla Irizarry who had 19 assists and nine digs while Emily Conrad had 18 digs.

Anderson has lost five of its last six outings with its lone win coming in three sets versus Newberry on October 27.

Digs and service aces have been the strong points for the Trojans this year. With a 17.87 digs per set clip, Anderson is 34th nationally while ranking 39th with 1.83 service aces per frame.

Serena Jackson and Marissa Mitter have led the way for the Trojans in 2015. Jackson is hitting .282 while averaging 2.70 kills per set while Mitter has 205 total kills this season and hitting .207.

Anderson will provide live stats and video for Saturday's match by clicking on the links provided. Fans are encouraged to follow @CNathletics and @CarsonNewmanVB on Twitter for live updates during the match.

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