AIKEN, S.C. – Anna Patton and Megan Oldenburger tallied double-doubles but Carson-Newman lost in four sets against USC Aiken 25-21, 15-25, 19-25 and 21-25 Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center in the South Atlantic Conference/Peach Belt Conference Crossover.
Playing for the fourth straight season, Carson-Newman (8-10) has lost the last three meetings with USC Aiken (17-2) as the Pacers extend their winning streak in 2017 to 17 matches.
Patton picked up her eighth double-double of the year with season highs of 32 assists and 16 digs. Oldenburger led the offense with 12 kills and 14 scoops.
Morgan Ballard (Weaverville, N.C.) led the defense for C-N with 25 digs while Emily Harnischfeger (Macedon, N.Y.) had nine kills and 18 digs.
The Eagles posted a .112 hitting percentage in the match with 92 digs, nine blocks and one service ace while the Pacers countered with a .156 mark, 127 digs, seven aces and 3.5 rejections.
For the ninth time in its last 17 outings, the Pacers lost a set in the opening game. The Eagles opened up a 5-0 lead out of the gates. It was a lead they held during the rest of the frame despite Aiken pulling within one three times. It was a 21-20 tussle when C-N ripped off four of the five final as Oldenburger put away the first with a kill.
The second stanza favored the Pacers who started to open up the lead at 9-5 prompting a timeout from Dave Franklin. After winning the next rally, the Eagles could not close the gap any closer than five points as Avery Macklin ended the stanza with a blast.
The third stanza opened with the two sides trading blows. Aiken held an 8-7 edge when it won nine of the 11 points to pull away. Carson-Newman cut the deficit to four at 23-19 only to make a pair of attack errors to give the home team a 2-1 lead in the match.
Franklin's club rushed out to a 7-2 lead in the third game only to watch its foe win 12 of the next 13 points to take a 14-8 as the mentor burned both of his timeouts during the spurt. C-N pushed back closing the gap to three at 24-21 before Alie Smith's kill ended the match.
Three players finished with at least 10 kills for the Pacers led by Smith's double-double of 13 kills and 19 digs. Christine Carroll finished with 13 smashes and Julia Forster cranked out 11 in the match.
Emily Teelon finished just shy of a triple-double with 49 assists, 17 digs and seven kills. Rebecca Martinez led all players with 38 digs on the day.
Play concludes in the SAC/PBC Crossover at 4 p.m. Saturday afternoon as the Eagles challenge the Augusta Jaguars. Live stats will be available with updates provided on Twitter by following @CNathletics.
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