ROCK HILL, S.C. – With a short schedule on tap for the 2021 spring season, the South Atlantic Conference announced its preseason all-conference teams Thursday. Carson-Newman earned two spots led by a first-team selection of Megan Oldenburger and Erin Edwards taking a spot on the second team.
This is the third time that Oldenburger has been a preseason all-conference selection but the first time she landed on the top unit. Only Anderson with three second-team nods had more players honored by the league on preseason units.
Oldenburger earned spots on two all-tournament teams, one from the league and one from the NCAA in the Southeast Regional. She once again filled up the stat sheet finishing the year third on the team in kills (331), second in digs (437), first in double-doubles (12) and first in service aces (50). The Cedar Rapids, Iowa native led the conference with 50 aces ranking 30th in Division II.
The junior ranked seventh in the SAC in kills, eighth in aces per set and ninth in digs. On the season, Oldenburger had 16 double-digit kill efforts, 22 double-digit dig outings with a dozen double-doubles leading the team in kills 11 times. The outside hitter posted a career-high 23 points against Emmanuel on Sept. 7 with 18 kills, three aces and two blocks adding 22 digs. In a sweep of Catawba in the regular-season finale, she posted a program-record nine service aces besting the prior mark of seven that achieved seven times, most recently by Kristen Pickett at Milligan on Oct. 4, 2012.
During the postseason, the three-year starter tallied 16 kills and 25 digs in a SAC semifinal win over No. 22 Wingate on Nov. 22. Guiding the Eagles in the Southeast Region semifinals, the outside tallied 17 kills and 16 digs in a four-set win over Flagler on Dec. 6.
.@oldenburgermeg detonates on this one ��
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CNathletics) November 20, 2019
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Entering her senior season, the two-time All-SAC honoree has 907 career kills, 1,105 digs, 104 aces and 54 rejections. If she reaches 1,000 kills, she would become the 14th player in school history to reach that level while she is 10 digs shy of moving into the program's top 10.
Edwards produced a breakout junior year earning second-team D2CCA All-Region honors, second-team All-SAC laurels and a trio of postseason plaudits. She was the 2019 SAC Tournament MVP where she posted 44 kills in three matches led by a then career-high 17 against 24th-ranked Wingate in the semifinals. The junior was a member of the NCAA Southeast Region All-Tournament team resetting her career-high with 19 kills posting a scorching .457 hitting percentage in a sweep of Augusta in the championship match on Dec. 7. She averaged 4.30 kills per set over the three matches hitting .396 en route to a region title.
The Midlothian, Va. native had the fourth-most efficient season in school history with a .312 hitting clip, seventh in the SAC. With 108 block assists, she finished eighth in C-N history with 112 total rejections, fourth in the SAC. The right side had 18 overall double-digit kill efforts on the year leading the team in smashes 12 times and leading the way in rejections on four occasions. The junior had two double-digit kill efforts in her first 11 matches but 16 over her final 25.
�� @erinedwards31 dupes 'em for the kill
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CNathletics) November 20, 2019
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Carson-Newman is slated to open its 10-match 2021 schedule on Feb. 27 starting a three-match homestand against Catawba at 7 p.m. Each home game in the spring will air on cneagles.com/live with a free high definition video stream.
2020-21 SAC VOLLEYBALL PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE
First Team
Gabby Gray, Tusculum
Megan Oldenburger, Carson-Newman
Logan Witt, Queens
Emiah Burrowes, Tusculum
Sophie Schaff, Wingate
Casey Tarvin, Queens
Taylor Prall, Lenoir-Rhyne
Ully Martins, Mars Hill (L)
Second Team
Jaycee Jones, Queens (L)
Sarah Goddard, Mars Hill
Regan Duty, Anderson
Noelle Knutsen, Anderson
Kylie Morgan, Catawba
Erin Edwards, Carson-Newman
Maggie Young, Wingate
Maya Learmouth, Anderson
- CN -
