VIDEO: Ashley Tiernan Interview
HARTSVILLE, S.C. – Winners of two straight matches, Carson-Newman hits the road again making its longest South Atlantic Conference journey of the year with a visit to Coker Friday night at 7 p.m. and a road affair versus Wingate on Saturday at 2 p.m.
"The games that we should win, we want to make sure that we are disciplined in everything that we do," Carson-Newman coach Ashley Tiernan said. "That way when we meet teams that we are statiscally and talent-wise are similar we want to make sure that that discipline is set no matter who we are playing that way we are ready to take our game to the next level."
One of the keys to the team's recent surge can be found in scoring runs. In the first four matches of the year opponents produced a 5-0 run or better 15 times but that numbers has been limited to 14 over the last 11 with the foe tallying zero in three of the last four. Conversely, the Eagles only tallied six in the first four outings but has 29 since the opening weekend.
"We really worked hard on a lot of variables that go into that stat," Tiernan said. "It's about having smart shots and smart situations. We have really broken down the game situationally and talked to our attackers about what shots are open in what situations and what to read. It has been something that we have focused on and it's nice to see those things happening when you have worked on it in practice."
Carson-Newman (8-7, 4-2) is facing off against Coker (1-13, 0-8) for the 15th time with the Eagles on top 11-3 in the series but two of the losses have come inside of the DeLoach Center. C-N has won five of the last six sweeping the regular-season series in 2019 with the Cobras last win coming on Oct. 20, 2018 at home.
The Snakes are one of two teams without a conference win this year at 0-8 with UVA Wise. All told the team has dropped 12 straight, the ninth-longest in the country with the lone win coming in game two on Sept. 10, a four-set win over Converse. Coker has lost 16 straight sets since taking the third at Limestone on Sept. 21, 17 days prior to Friday's match.
Nine of the 13 losses have come in straight sets and none have required five frames winning a total of three sets while Wise has only won one. Coker's last conference win came at UVA Wise on March 27. The last SAC home victory came on Nov. 9, 2019 against the Cavaliers, a string of seven setbacks straight.
Using service aces per set, the Cobras are the worst serving team in the nation posting a modest 0.80 aces per set. For perspective, sophomore McKenna Hall is averaging 0.61 by herself for the Eagles. The team's season high for a match is seven against Converse with nine of two or fewer.
Emily Everton leads the team in kills per set with 3.38 but has been limited to five matches meaning Chelsey Blume tops the club with two and has not been in double figures in the category since Sept. 14 when she piled up a season-high 13.
Saturday will be the 69th meeting with Wingate (10-2, 6-2) with the Eagles looking to do something that they have only done once before. Trailing in the series 52-16, C-N won two straight meetings with the Bulldogs in 2019 and is trying for three in a row for the second time. The only other occasion was a six-match string from 2000-03. The Orange and Blue had dropped 36 of the prior 37 before the two triumphs two years ago.
In the spring, Wingate regained control of the league with the regular-season title and tournament championship, beating Anderson in five sets. To start the fall year, the team dropped two of its first three but has rebounded since winning five in a row including two that went the distance.
Coach Shelton Collier's team is the best in the conference in opponent's efficiency limiting teams to a .114 margin, a mark that ranks 13th nationally. Foes have hit below .100 seven times with Anderson's .219 tally on Oct. 1 the only time a team has eclipsed the .200 threshold. In addition, the 'Dogs are top 26 in the nation in blocks per set, 2.40 (No. 21), and digs per set, 17.93 (No. 26).
Wingate leads the conference in kills per set with 13.70 hitting .214 with at least 40 smashes in every contest. Sophie Schaff leads the team in the area with 3.16, good for sixth as one of the four players to terminate the ball at least twice per game. She adds 1.47 blocks per set, fifth in the country.
Reigning SAC Player of the Year and SAC Tournament MVP Shannon Kasprak ranks in the top 15 of the league in six separate categories. She has seven double-doubles this year and racked up a triple-double in a five-set win over Queens on Sept. 23 with 52 assists, 17 digs and 10 kills on a .526 hitting percentage.
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