VIDEO: Ashley Tiernan Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Six Carson-Newman players finished with at least five kills with Erin Edwards finishing two kills shy of her career high and Abbey Hildenbrand flirted with a triple-double as the Eagles took down Catawba 23-25, 25-17, 25-18 and 25-16 Friday night at Holt Fieldhouse in the South Atlantic Conference opener.
"We talked about having intensity and being intentional with our shots to not create errors and play our game," Carson-Newman coach Ashley Tiernan said. "If we kept our errors to a minimum then we were going to take the match in four. We just had to tighten up our offensive game. It didn't have to be crazy, big swings. We just had to place the ball."
Carson-Newman (2-3, 1-0) opened up the conference slate with a win for the seventh time in the last eight years beating Catawba (2-4, 0-1) for an eighth straight meeting. The Indians have won just three sets since the start of 2017 and dropped 14 of the last 16 dating back to 2013. The Eagles have won four straight home openers and six of the last eight.
Edwards produced 11 total kills in her first three matches of the year before racking up a match-high 17 Friday night making just one error and hitting .533. The Midlothian, Va. native added five block assists.
"We have been working week trying to work together," Edwards said. "We need to be able to connect in order to produce. I was able to mix up my shots and it worked out well. I need to be able to produce for my team so I had to have confidence in myself."
Hildenbrand filled up the stats with 40 assists, 10 digs and seven kills on a .261 margin adding three block assists and three aces. Her distribution set up the rest of the team to commit nine total attack errors in the final three games after making nine in the opening set.
Blake Cherry (Cookeville, Tenn.) posted nine smashes adding a season-high 19 digs. In her first match of the year, Taylor Keeran (Gailon, Ohio) registered eight kills and seven block assists.
On the evening, the Eagles finished with a .239 hitting percentage, 11 blocks, nine aces and 77 digs. Catawba was held to a .145 margin, seven blocks, two aces and 72 digs.
1️⃣7️⃣ @erinedwards31 kills
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) September 11, 2021
2️⃣1️⃣ @hbarton12 digs
4️⃣0️⃣ @abbeyh65 assists
3️⃣.5️⃣ @KeeranTaylor blocks
1️⃣ @CarsonNewmanVB win pic.twitter.com/SUf5Z7s5it
Carson-Newman started the match with a flurry winning the first three points and 10 of the first 14 to open up a 10-4 advantage. After Catawba scored six of seven the Eagles opened up a four-point edge at 14-10. The Indians answered by winning nine of the next 10 to take a 19-15 lead. Despite the Eagles pulling within a point thrice, a kill from Raytchelle Miranda put the visitors ahead 1-0.
In the second, the teams traded the first 12 points before the home crew won 10 of 12 to seize control. The Indians chipped away pulling within four at 16-12 only to see the Orange and Blue rattle off five straight to take control and win the frame on a blast through the middle of the floor by Keeran.
Tiernan's troops led wire-to-wire in the third leading by as many as six points in the game. Catawba pulled back within two at 17-15 before C-N ripped off a 7-2 burst to get to set point before Hildenbrand punctuated the game with a kill off of the block.
The fourth frame was the hottest contested of the night with 10 ties, the final one coming at 13. Carson-Newman blasted off scoring six straight and eight of the next nine to pull away winning the match on a Catawba attack error that flew into the bench.
Three players, Allison Bryant, Ashley Johnson and Miranda, finished with a dozen kills as the rest of the team posted a total of nine blasts. Johnson hit .296 adding three solo blocks and three block assists. Payton Medich ended the night with a double-double of 29 assists and 10 scoops.
The Eagles are back in action continuing the home swing on Saturday for a 2 p.m. opening serve against Queens at Holt Fieldhouse. Broadcast coverage airs on the Eagle Sports Network by visiting cneagles.com/live for the sights and sounds from Mossy Creek.
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