JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman Director of Athletics Matt Pope named Ashley Tiernan the eighth coach in the history of the volleyball program removing the Acting Director of Volleyball tag Tuesday and giving her the head coaching role moving forward.
"We are excited to have her," Pope said. "She has been very good wherever she has been. We are excited about her experience. We not only welcome her but her husband Benjamin. The two are expecting a child in March and we are excited to add to our Eagle family."
In 19 matches since taking the helm, the Eagles are 17-2 with 12 sweeps in that span. The end of that sequence brought the program its third South Atlantic Conference Tournament Championship on Nov. 23. C-N swept Mars Hill, toppled Wingate in four frames and swept Queens on its home floor for the trophy. The victory over the Bulldogs was the second time that the Eagles took down a ranked Wingate crew, the first time in school history the team beat two ranked teams in one season.
"It is a very special group of young women that I have had the pleasure of teaching, coaching and leading," Tiernan said. "They have touched my life more than I have touched them. When I took over, my biggest goal was that the girls would have a really good experience for the rest of the year – build their spirit, believe in them and have a positive attitude every single day. That has turned into such an exciting season with a SAC Championship and moving into this weekend with the NCAA Tournament."
Tiernan guided the crew to its second-highest seeding in the NCAA Tournament as the team is No. 3 in the Southeast Region bracket slated to face sixth-seeded Anderson Thursday at noon.
The stretch was highlighted by an eight-match winning streak from Oct. 5-22 to cap a 10-2 record in October. It was the first time that C-N produced double-digit victories in one month since October 2015. The eight-match winning streak was the 11th-longest in Division II at the time and the longest by the team since October 2014 when it won nine consecutive. C-N lost a total of three sets during the streak.
To open up her tenure, the Eagles swept the Peach Belt Crossover beating Georgia College, USC Aiken, Augusta and Lander dropping two total sets on Oct. 11-12, 2019. The victory over Aiken handed the Pacers their first loss of the season ending the seventh-longest winning streak in the NCAA. She oversaw Morgan Ballard's 2,000th career dig in that match against Aiken.
Not to be outdone, one week later Carson-Newman handed Wingate one of its two losses on the year. The regular-season champions were ranked No. 22 and one of four remaining undefeated teams left in America. The Eagles ended a 22-match regular-season winning streak in four sets on Oct. 19 at Holt Fieldhouse. It snapped an 11-match winning streak over C-N since the Eagles last won over a ranked team back on Nov. 4, 2014 when the 'Dogs were ranked seventh playing at home.
The Orange and Blue went 10-1 at home during her first month-plus bringing the season total to 14 triumphs inside of Holt to break the program record set in 2002 that set the high-water mark for wins in a season with 31.
With 23 wins on the year, the team has secured a 20-win season for the first time since 2015 when the unit won 29 matches and the lone Southeast Region Championship in C-N history. The Eagles have 11 years with 20-plus wins including seven over the past 13 seasons.
Tiernan leads her club into the national tournament Thursday at noon at Wingate's Cuddy Arena to ignite the postseason against the Trojans. The match will air on the ESPN app courtesy of Wingate's media department.
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