HARTSVILLE, S.C. – Carson-Newman bounced back after its first South Atlantic Conference loss with a sweep of Coker Saturday afternoon at the DeLoach Center 25-15, 25-21 and 25-20.
"Our team executed great from the service line today which is where it all starts for us," Carson-Newman coach Dave Franklin said. "It was a great team effort with a high level of execution in each area leading to a sweep. It was awesome to see a resiliency in our team to comeback after not having our A-game last night."
After Coker (5-6, 1-3) beat Carson-Newman (5-2, 3-1) for the first two times in 2016, the Eagles pick up a sweep for the fifth time in nine meetings.
Marnie Streeter (Goldvein, Va.) tallied double figures for the fourth straight match leading all players with 12 kills while hitting .300.
For the third time as a rookie, Megan Oldenburger (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) tallied a double-double finishing the day with 10 kills and 10 digs while picking up a pair of solo blocks.
Morgan Ballard (Weaverville, N.C.) had 22 digs, her fifth effort with at least 20 scoops.
Madison Rademacher (Broomfield, Colo.) had 18 assists, nine digs and a career-high four service aces while Anna Patton (Franklin, Tenn.) notched 16 assist and six digs.
The first frame saw the Eagles tally four rejections holding the Cobras to a .043 hitting percentage. Four of the first five points were won by C-N before Coker came back to tie the score at eight. After winning five of the next seven rallies, the visitors closed out the set by going on a 9-2 jaunt.
The floodgates opened to initiate play in the second stanza as C-N jumped out to an 8-3 advantage. Coker pulled within a deuce at 15-13 before watching its opponent win the next five. The deficit was closed to a pair of points at 22-20 before the Eagles picked up kills from Lindsay De Vore (Denton, Texas), Kendall Cooley (Castile Rock, Colo.) and Katie Parnell (Atlanta, Ga.) to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Oldenburger, Parnell and Streeter recorded 12 of the team's 15 kills in a third set that featured eight ties. Coker held the upper hand early including a 12-11 edge. With Rademacher on serve, the Eagles ripped off seven unanswered points to seize control. It was a mountain that the Cobras failed to climb as Oldenburger sealed the match with a laser to the surface.
Madison Bingle led Coker offensively with 11 kills on just one miscue and eight digs. Christen Bragg notched a double-double with 31 assists and 12 digs.
Kara Overholt ended the day with 25 digs and Taylor Du Bray registered 22.
"We will get back to the basics for the next couple days," Franklin stated. "It's time to prepare for our home opener versus a rival. We are excited for Tuesday."
The Eagles turn their attention to their home-opener scheduled for Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. against Lincoln Memorial. A video stream will be available on cneagles.com/live as the Eagle Sports Network provides the coverage.
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