VIDEO: Ashley Tiernan Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman tied a program record for kills in a match and Julia Wheeler posted a record-tying 27 kills but the Eagles fell behind 2-0 and lost in five sets, 23-25, 28-30, 25-17, 25-17 and 9-15, against Mars Hill Tuesday evening at Holt Fieldhouse in South Atlantic Conference play.
"Offensively our stats are way better than theirs," Carson-Newman coach Ashley Tiernan said. "We didn't do the things defensively that we needed to do. They had a lot more block assists than we do because we are not disciplined on our block. We have to fix that."
Carson-Newman (9-9, 5-4) racked up 78 kills on the night hitting .215 as a team producing 23 more blasts than Mars Hill (13-6, 5-5). Since 2008, the start of 25-point scoring, the Eagles have never had more than that number with the prior high being 74 against Catawba on Oct. 12, 2012. Going back as far as 2004, there is only one other match with more kills when the team had 81 at Catawba on Oct. 21, 2005 during the 30-point scoring era. On Sept. 25, 2007 at Brevard the team also had 78 kills against Brevard in four frames during the 30-point period.
The Eagles had not posted 70-plus kills in a match since Nov. 20, 2015, a span of 160 matches and 2,169 days, when they had 73 against Anderson at Holt Fieldhouse.
Wheeler reset her career high with the 27 kills on a .219 hitting percentage adding 15 digs for her fifth double-double of the year. Since 2004, she joins Molly Locke as the only players with two, 25-kill nights in the same season. The Murfreesboro, Tenn. native tied Locke for most kills in a match since 2004 as Locke also had 27 against Quincy on Sept. 4.
Abbey Hildenbrand (Parker, Colo.) put up an eye-popping 61 assists, 15 digs and six kills. No C-N setter had more than 50 helpers since 2017 as the senior is the first Eagle with 60-plus assists since Anna Patton recorded 61 versus Augusta on Oct. 14, 2016, 140 games and 1,848 days prior.
Erin Edwards (Midlothian, Va.) matched a season high with 17 kills hitting .317 and Taylor Keeran (Galion, Ohio) tallied a new career high with 15 kills adding four total rejections.
Hayden Barton (Hixson, Tenn.) picked up a season-high 31 digs, the second time as a sophomore she hit the 30 marker. Cameron Batis (Joliet, Ill.) recorded a career-high 13 scoops.
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— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) October 12, 2021
Eagles force a fourth
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3rd Set | MHU leads 2-1
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— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) October 13, 2021
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5th Set | Match tied 2-2
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Mars Hill captured the early edge and spread the bulge out to 15-9 in the first only to see the Eagles respond with an 11-3 burst to go on top 20-18 forcing a timeout from Mars Hill. Out of the break, the Lions reeled off six straight and seemed to be in control. However, the Orange and Blue won three in a row before a service error ended the game. It spoiled a frame where C-N hit .227 with 17 kills.
The second stanza featured the most ties, 17, and lead changes, nine, out of any game in 2021 for the Eagles. C-N opened up a 10-6 lead only to see the Lions climb back and take a 22-20 edge. It would be the last two-point differential until the clincher. The teams were tied at every numeral from 22-28 with the lone set point for the Eagles coming at 26-25. It took five more set points but the Lions went ahead 2-0 on a kill from Sarah Goddard.
Carson-Newman left no doubt in the fourth opening up on a 15-5 burst and leading 20-10 before settling on a 25-17 victory thanks to an unorthodox kill from Wheeler on a free ball that sailed over the top of the tape and onto the hardwood.
With the score tied at five in the fourth, the Eagles scored five of the next six and used the margin to secure a lead that the Lions could never pierce. The home crew rallied to win eight of the last 12 to put the game away and send the contest into the fifth.
After getting the first point, the Eagles dropped the next four but bounced back to tie the tally at four and five but Mars Hill provided the difference with a 5-0 burst to seize control and taking home the win on a kill from Kelly Jakaitis.
Tuesday night was the 15th time in the 67 matches between the two programs that five sets were required with Mars Hill winning for the eighth time. It was the first Mars Hill win at Mossy Creek since Oct. 6, 2018.
Jana Cuk led the Lions side of the net with 17 kills hitting .361 recording eight block assists. Sarah Goddard posted 14 kills and 14 digs and Grace Lilly added 14 smashes and 12 scoops. Jordan Schmucker dished out 43 assists and had 26 digs.
Mars Hill led the league and was sixth nationally in digs on the year but C-N won the battle with an 111-90 edge in the category. The Lions also had 15 blocks with C-N holding the edge in aces at 5-3.
The Eagles hit the road yet again this weekend swinging through the Palmetto State starting on Friday at Newberry for a 7 p.m. first serve against the Wolves.
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