ANDERSON, S.C. – Abbey Hildenbrand and Julia Wheeler were in sync all day as Carson-Newman overcame a first-set loss to beat Anderson in four frames, 16-25, 25-19, 25-23 and 25-21, Saturday afternoon at the Abney Athletic to win a second straight South Atlantic Conference match.
"We have talked about the talent level and elite level of this team since the first day of practice," Carson-Newman coach Ashley Tiernan said. "Today we showed what we are capable of reaching our full potential for the match."
Wheeler (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) wowed again on the floor racking up 23 kills on an eye-popping .367 attack percentage adding 13 digs on the day. The rest of the Eagles attack produced 28 smashes but recorded 24 errors with Erin Edwards (Midlothian, Va.) chipping in nine kills.
Hildenbrand (Parker, Colo.) dished out 44 assists with six digs and four service aces to guide the Eagles offensively to a .144 hitting percentage. Anderson (12-6, 7-4) recorded a .214 mark with 50 kills marking the first time in 2021 that the Orange and Blue won a match in nine tries where its efficiency number was lower than the opponent.
Taylor Keeran (Galion, Ohio) anchored the front line with three solo blocks and four block assists adding seven kills. The rest of the roster combined for four block assists as the sophomore was in on each rejection on the day.
Carson-Newman (11-9, 7-4) secures its first win in the Electric City since the 2015 South Atlantic Conference Tournament semifinals when it won in five sets on Nov. 20, 2015 breaking a string of four consecutive setbacks at the Abney Athletic Center.
2️⃣3️⃣ @juliawheerr kills
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) October 16, 2021
2️⃣7️⃣ @hbarton12 digs
4️⃣4️⃣ @abbeyh65 assists
5️⃣ @KeeranTaylor blocks
2️⃣ straight @CarsonNewmanVB wins. pic.twitter.com/18YhYlADdo
The Trojans led wire-to-wire in the first set breaking open a 10-8 edge to a 14-9 bulge ending the day on an 8-3 spurt. C-N made nine hitting errors with just 10 kills while the home side hit .324 with 13 kills and two misfires tallying four blocks.
In the second set, the Eagles reeled off five of six points and opened the game on a 15-6 lead. Despite Anderson pulling within three points at 16-13 on an ace from Hannah Neff, the visitors began to pull away sealing the deal on a kill from Blake Cherry (Cookeville, Tenn.).
The third set was the hottest contested of the day with eight ties and four lead changes but the Trojans captured a 15-9 lead forcing a timeout by the Eagles. C-N responded reeling off 10 of 12 to go on top 19-17. The teams traded punches before a kill from Edwards and a block from Edwards and Keeran broke a 23-all tie to win the game.
Once again in the third, Anderson went on top 4-1 before a wave of tie scores sent the contest to a 13-13 level ground. A 6-1 burst gave the Eagles the lead for good paving the way for Wheeler to blast the ball to ground and seal the win, her ninth kill of the set.
Anderson's four-match winning streak came to an end as the most efficient team in the conference produced another strong day up front adding 11 blocks.
Madison Roy dished out 45 assists and added 12 digs for her eighth double-double of the year. Maya Learmonth led the attack with 14 kills and Regan Duty hit .355 with a dozen smashes. Meghan DeVaux led the back line with 19 digs while Noelle Knutsen registerd 5.5 blocks.
The Eagles return home on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. first serve against Lenoir-Rhyne for a contest that will air on the Eagle Sports Network by visiting cneagles.com/live.
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