HICKORY, N.C. – A night after making a comeback in a five-set victory, Carson-Newman's response to a 2-0 deficit fell just short as Lenoir-Rhyne captured a five-set contest 25-18, 25-17, 19-25, 20-25 and 15-13 Saturday evening in South Atlantic Conference play at Shuford Gymnasium.
"In the preview interview, I talked about consistency before the weekend started," Carson-Newman coach Dave Franklin said. "That is exactly what the two matches came down to this weekend. We worked hard this past week in practice on offensive consistency and controlling our error rare. Both matches we were able to accomplish that. However our serving and defensive consistency was not up to our standard or how we have played to this point either night."
Carson-Newman (2-13, 2-9) falls in a five-set match for the fifth time this season while Lenoir-Rhyne (6-12, 4-7) avenged a loss to the Eagles in the 2015 Southeast Region Championship contest.
Lenoir-Rhyne hit .323 in the first set while holding the lead throughout the game. The Bears won six of the first seven points. The Eagles worked their way back to close the gap to two points on three occasions. With the score favoring the home team 15-13, they scored eight of the next nine rallies to go ahead 23-15 before closing the set out.
The second stanza saw the Bears hit .355 and surge out to an 11-2 lead. The Eagles shed a couple set points to pull closer but the closest the visitors were the rest of the time was six points to fall behind 2-0 in the match.
Carson-Newman held Lenoir-Rhyne to a .056 attack percentage while hitting .324 in the third set. The two sides traded the first 14 rallies before the Eagles reeled off a 5-1 string to take the lead. The visiting group maintained its separation before an attack error by Brandi Thomas gave C-N the third game.
The fourth frame featured nine ties and four lead changes. The score was deadlocked at 17 when the Eagles won four of the next five points to gain the distance needed to capture the set as freshman outside hitter Abbie McFarlane (McKinney, Texas) found the surface on an attack to send the match to the fifth set.
Lenoir-Rhyne held the lead when the two teams switched sides and the margin was five points at 11-6 when Carson-Newman won seven of the next eight points to take a 13-12 advantage. Following a timeout from L-R, the Bears took the last three rallies to stave off the Eagles.
"Our grit and never give up effort was on display again and gave us opportunities to win again," Franklin said. "It is awesome to see that kind of attitude but winning requires execution in all areas and we are getting closer and closer to that consistent execution. We get back to work on Monday to try and get our serving and defense back up to our new offensive standard."
On the night Carson-Newman hit .218 with 73 digs, 12 total blocks and six service aces while Lenoir-Rhyne countered with a .199 hitting percentage, 85 digs, seven service aces and seven rejections.
McFarlane paced all players with a career-high 22 kills coupled with 10 digs for her second double-double in as many contests. Sophomore middle blocker Natalie Harris (Monroe, N.C.) joined the rookie in double-digits for kills with 10 paired with a team-high 3.5 total blocks.
Junior setter Anna Patton (Franklin, Tenn.) notched 49 assists with seven digs and three total rejections and senior libero Taylor Lowe (Franklin, Tenn.) added a match-high 26 scoops.
Lenoir-Rhyne put three players in double figures for kills led by 17 from Emily Steele who hit .455 on the night with nine digs. Brandi Thomas finished with 12 kills and Jaclyn Denny had 11.
Jessica Funk finished with 50 assists, 15 digs and six kills for the Bears.
The Eagles are back in action next weekend hosting the SAC/Peach Belt Challenge beginning Friday at noon against Lander. The rest of the weekend's opponents are Augusta, USC Aiken and Georgia College with two matches Friday and a pair on Saturday.
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