YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. – For the second weekend in a row, Carson-Newman's weekend featured a road match and a home affair starting with a non-conference meeting with Young Harris on Friday at 6 p.m. before returning home for a South Atlantic Conference affair against Limestone at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
The Eagles are becoming one of the best serving teams in the nation ranking 17th in the country with 2.26 service aces per set behind three double-digit efforts on the year. Four players rank in the top 10 in the conference while McKenna Hall (Bristol, Wis.) is 12th in all the land with 27 total aces, averaging 0.59 per set, a mark that is 18th in the country.
Carson-Newman (7-6, 3-2) has never played Young Harris (3-11) but is familiar with coach Jenny Michael, the first leader at Lincoln Memorial. Michael spent nine years in Harrogate winning 162 matches with four 20-win seasons and four trips to the NCAA Tournament winning the South Atlantic Conference Coach of the Year in 2016.
The Mountain Lions lost their first six matches of the year and each of the first 15 sets in 2021. Entering Friday night, the team has lost three straight, all sweeps, and five of the last six. Eight of the 11 losses this year have come in consecutive stanzas.
All three of the wins have come away from the friendly confines of the Recreation and Fitness Center. Young Harris has the 11th-longest active home losing streak in Division II losing all nine of its home matches since creating its program prior to the spring of 2021. Seven of those matches have been sweeps with just two instances of an opponent needing four frames to win.
Opponents are blasting the ball at a .246 margin on the year, the 20th-worst clip nationally. Eleven of the 14 foes have hit at least .200 with Lees-McRae posting the lowest number at .150. Five teams have hit above .333 including Lander's .410 effort on Tuesday night. The Mountain Lions are averaging 0.92 blocks per set, the 12th-lowest margin in the country.
The roster is averaging nine kills per set while hitting .118 as seven contests this year has seen the team hit below .100 and three others of .101, .102 and .103. Lily Hildalgo leads the team with 2.31 kills per set with five nights of double-figure blast numbers. Alex Pierre is the most efficient player with a .328 margin with at least seven kills in seven straight matches including four of 10-plus.
Tiernan's troops will welcome Limestone (5-5, 2-3) back to Mossy Creek as the teams set to duel for the for the fifth time ever. The Eagles have won four of the five meetings including two sweeps during the spring campaign that included a win in the SAC Tournament Quarterfinals.
Carson-Newman produced a season-high .352 attack margin behind 31 kills. Four players with two or more smashes did not make an attack mistake on the night. Emily Harnischfeger led all players with 11 kills on the night, matching a season high, on a .350 hitting percentage with eight digs.
Holding the Saints to a minus-.075 hitting percentage, the Eagles held a team to a negative clip for the first time since Coker did so on Oct. 18, 2019, a span of 28 matches and 558 days. No one on the Saints roster posted an attack margin in the positive figures with Sydney Bibby leading the way with six kills.
After winning five of the first eight matches of the year, the program has dropped back-to-back matches falling to Mars Hill and Lenoir-Rhyne. The team's attack ranks 11th in the conference with a .161 tally hitting below .100 three times, all losses.
As a roster, the team is fifth in the league in digs per set with a 17.29 margin limiting teams to a .132 attack percentage, good for the sixth-best margin. Gabby Wessels leads the back line with 4.86 digs per set ranking fifth in the conference.
Vanessa Blas is ninth in the league in points per set scoring 3.27 behind an efficient .250 hitting margin. She has six matches with 10-plus kills including each of the last three. In five SAC matches, Blas is hitting .336 and averaging 3.24 kills per set.
Friday night's match will have stats and video available while Saturday afternoon fans can watch the match courtesy of the Eagle Sports Network by visiting cneagles.com/live.
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