VIDEO: Ashley Tiernan Interview
VIDEO: Abbey Hildenbrand Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Facing off against a Lenoir-Rhyne team with one South Atlantic Conference loss entering play, Carson-Newman took an early lead and overcame two set points to secure a sweep, 25-23, 25-18 and 26-24, at Holt Fieldhouse Tuesday night.
"We worked so hard on playing good volleyball," Carson-Newman coach Ashley Tiernan said. "It has started coming together in the last week. Tonight we proved that we can still hang with the big dogs and do big things. It definitely defined what the rest of our season is going to look like."
The Eagles have won seven of the last eight meetings against the Bears winning a third consecutive match on the year. Carson-Newman (12-9, 8-4) piled up a dozen kills, the most in a three-set affair on the year.
Julia Wheeler (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) was the only player in the match with double figures racking up 15 on a .250 hitting percentage adding eight digs, four aces, three block assists and two assists.
Abbey Hildenbrand (Parker, Colo.) posted her 10th double-double of the season with 33 assists and 18 digs adding five block assists to pace the offensive effort that saw C-N tally 37 kills on a .126 hitting percentage.
"I think we have found our groove," Hildenbrand said. "It took a couple matches but I'm glad we found it now so we can just roll. It's a huge team effort. I'm proud of everyone. I think they played great. We kept pushing and going and not once did we break. We kept going. We knew that we had it in each other and wait for our chance to take it."
Blake Cherry (Cookeville, Tenn.) and Hayden Barton (Hixson, Tenn.) recorded 12 and 11 digs respectively with Taylor Keeran (Galion, Ohio) leading the team with seven block assists.
Have you ever seen a kill using a head?
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) October 20, 2021
✅ @erinedwards31 and @CarsonNewmanVB #SCTop10 l @NCAADII l @NCAAVolleyball pic.twitter.com/dDzL1N3RHA
1️⃣5️⃣ @juliawheerr kills
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) October 20, 2021
1️⃣8️⃣ @abbeyh65 digs
3️⃣3️⃣ Hildenbrand assists
3️⃣.5️⃣ @KeeranTaylor blocks@CarsonNewmanVB wins a third straight match with a sweep. pic.twitter.com/YMNeY4a6JB
In a seesaw first frame, Carson-Newman used an 11-2 burst to open up a 14-5 lead only to see the Bears answer with a puncturing 14-5 sequence to level the score at 19. The Eagles scored five of the next six but needed four set points to close out the game.
After losing the first point, the Eagles stormed back to surge ahead 11-5 and maintained the lead for the duration. LR closed the gap to two at 13-11 only to see the home crew rattle off five of the next seven to go ahead 18-13. In a set where the Bears hit .000, Wheeler put C-N ahead 2-0 with her sixth smash of the set.
There five early ties in the third before the Bears used a 5-0 spurt to go ahead 11-7 holding the edge for much of the game. C-N pulled within a point six times before pulling level at 22. Lenoir-Rhyne answered by taking the next two to get to set point at 24-22. After an attack error, Cherry rifled a ball to the corner to tie the match at 24. The Eagles registered a block and a bad set by Mackenzie Hulsey sealed the win.
Taylor Prall led the attack with eight kills for the Bears but recorded 10 attack errors adding 11 digs. Ashley Hawkins chipped in eight smashes and 15 digs. Hulsey led the team with 16 assists and Rachel Bewich paced all players with 22 scoops.
Lenoir-Rhyne entered in the top 25 nationally in blocks per set with 2.30 per game but recorded a season-low tying four rejections.
The Eagles are back on the road with their third and final crossover tournament facing off against the Peach Belt this weekend starting with a trip to USC Aiken on Friday against Lander at 2 p.m. before facing the Pacers at 4 p.m.
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