Carson-Newman falls in five sets to Catawba as the Indians surge late to overcome a deficit.
VIDEO: Dave Franklin Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman held a 2-1 lead in the match before Catawba hit .273 in the final two sets to defeat the Eagles 15-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-18 and 15-6 in South Atlantic Conference play at Holt Fieldhouse Saturday evening.
"We grew up in the first set," Carson-Newman coach Dave Franklin said. "We did things that we talked about doing from an offensive standpoint. We got it over the top of their block. We got it to where they weren't and we got them in trouble. We did that for about the first two-and-a-half sets and then we regressed."
Catawba (6-8, 4-5) snaps a six-match losing streak to Carson-Newman (1-12, 1-8) winning for the first time against the Eagles since Nov. 9, 2012, also a five-set victory at Holt Fieldhouse.
The Eagles won the first four points of the opening set before the Indians closed the gap to one point on three occasions. C-N used a 7-2 spurt to go ahead 18-12. An attack error by Alexa Marcy put the home team ahead in the contest. Franklin's bunch hit .323 and racked up four blocks.
The second stanza saw the visiting group take a 9-2 advantage thanks to the serve from Evan Schultz. The deficit was six points when C-N clawed back to a 16-14 score to force a Catawba timeout. The Eagles eventually overcame the setback and took a 22-21 lead but the Indians rattled off four straight points to capture the set.
The third frame was the tightest of the night with seven ties and two lead changes. Carson-Newman surged out of the blocks taking a 5-1 lead and led 15-8 before Catawba won nine of 11 rallies to tie the score at 17. C-N won three straight and Catawba won five of six to take a 22-21 lead. A service ace from junior setter Anna Patton (Franklin, Tenn.) sealed the frame as the Eagles won four of the final five points.
Catawba started the fourth set with a flurry going ahead 10-4. The lead grew to as many as eight points before the Eagles closed the gap to three at 19-16 and 21-18 but that would the last point scored in the set as a kill from Bri Howard capped the set.
The fifth set was a mad dash to eight points by the Indians winning eight of the first nine to take a lead it would never relinquish. The Eagles did not win consecutive points in the set.
Carson-Newman finished the match with a .101 attack percentage, 70 digs, a season-high 14 blocks and 10 service aces while Catawba notched a .118 hitting percentage with 78 digs, 11 service aces and 10 rejections.
Freshman outside hitter Abbie McFarlane (McKinney, Texas) led the Eagles with 16 kills while freshman middle blocker Alex Biro (Ootlewah, Tenn.) accumulated 10 kills and a career-high 4.5 total blocks.
Patton finished the day with 32 assists, nine digs and three total blocks. Senior libero Taylor Lowe (Franklin, Tenn.) had a match-high 25 digs.
Allison Benton led the way for Catawba with 14 kills and 18 digs while Howard chipped in 10 kills. Rachel Stanford handed out 39 assists, seven digs and four kills.
Carson-Newman hits the road for a weekend featuring matchups against Brevard Friday at 7 p.m. and Lenoir-Rhyne at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
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