VIDEO: Ashley Tiernan Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman coach Ashley Tiernan released the 2021 spring volleyball schedule that will serve as a regular-season slate Sunday displaying a 10-match campaign against South Atlantic Conference competition.
"These girls are chomping at the bit to play," Tiernan said. "They want to compete. It's been a part of their life for numerous years. It was weird for them to not have a fall without volleyball. It was weird for us as coaches to not have an August through December year with no volleyball. We just want to compete. Our freshman have an awesome opportunity to get a full year of training before they compete in a normal season. Getting some of these freshman some court time in the spring, I want everyone to compete and get an opportunity to see what this game looks like at this level."
For the first time in program history a regular season will be played during the spring marking the same for the players and coaching staff leaving the fall as an opportunity to practice.
"We took it day by day with the intention of working as hard as we would have if we were in season," Tiernan said. "I think that really got us ready mentally and physically for coming back in January and going after it."
The Eagles are the reigning Southeast Region Champions returning four of the six starters from a club that won the SAC Tournament crown before cruising to a regional title losing one set over three matches.
Three of the five athletes that earned All-Tournament team nods return to the fray for the season led by senior pins Erin Edwards (Midlothian, Va.) and Megan Oldenburger (Cedar Rapids, Iowa).
Both middles return for a program that ranked second in the country in total rejections and third in blocks per set with 2.66 on average. Katie Parnell (Atlanta) and Kaina Roehrkasse (Fort Collins, Colo.). The duo ranked ninth and 11th respectively nationally in blocks per set.
�� On serve, @lenfrances02.
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CNathletics) December 8, 2019
�� Kill @Marnie_Streeter.
�� Championship @CarsonNewmanVB! pic.twitter.com/p8A9YOeFi9
Carson-Newman closed the 2019 year winning 21 of its final 24 matches of the year posting a 14-2 home record with wins in 11 of the final 12 matches at Holt Fieldhouse.
Three straight home matches open the year for Tiernan's troops starting on Feb. 27, a Saturday, at 7 p.m. against Catawba. The following weekend Queens comes to town in a rematch of the 2019 SAC Tournament Championship match. It precedes a meeting with first-year SAC member Limestone on March 6.
Over a span of the next 17 days, the Orange and Blue are on the road for all five of its schedule road matches starting with a visit to UVA Wise on March 9. The Eagles get 10 days before travelling to Lenor-Rhyne and Mars Hill.
The final two road affairs are short treks to Tusculum on a Tuesday, March 23, and a Saturday, March 26, in Harrogate against Lincoln Memorial.
"We are going to tackle it with the best intentions possible," Tiernan said. "We only have 10 matches. We are used to 26 dates of play meaning you could have multiple matches in a day. Only being able to play 10 matches will feel strange from the get-go but it doesn't really effect anything that we are doing. We aren't thinking that we are on the road for the entire month. It's not going to affect us too much."
The regular season wraps up with a Friday-Saturday home slate against Newberry and Anderson on April 2-3.
There is no official word on how the SAC Tournament will play out although the league announced that the "top teams advance to a postseason tournament". The size, location and duration of the tournament will be announced at a later date.
While the NCAA announced there will be a blanket waiver for fall sports student-athletes to retain their year of eligibility, regardless of the number of contests competed in during the 2020-21 season, there is no NCAA Tournament for volleyball this spring.
Each home match during the 2021 spring season will air with a high definition video stream on cneagles.com/live courtesy of the Eagle Sports Network. Follow along with the program by following @CNathletics and @CarsonNewmanVB on Twitter for the latest updates.
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