AIKEN, S.C. – On a day where Carson-Newman was pushed to the limit playing a pair of five-set matches, the Eagles shutdown USC Aiken to win the night cap in five sets, 19-25, 25-21, 25-21, 18-25 and 15-13, after falling to Lander in five, 25-23, 18-25, 25-17, 20-25 and 7-15, at the Convocation Center Friday in day one of the South Atlantic Conference/Peach Belt Conference Crossover.
"We were hesitant to get into a rhythm early against Lander but once we got the right personnel together it came natural," Carson-Newman coach Ashley Tiernan said. "I am impressed with the tenacity and resiliency that we showed today and we need to bring it tomorrow!"
Julia Wheeler (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) continued to make history posting two double-doubles including 22 kills and 20 digs against the Pacers in the night cap. The redshirt-sophomore became the first Eagle since Molly Locke in the 2015 Southeast Region Championship match to post 20 kills and 20 digs in the same match. Locke had 20 and 27 respectively in the four-set win over Lenoir-Rhyne, 156 matches and 2,171 days prior.
Match One: LANDER 3, Carson-Newman 2
Carson-Newman has never beaten Lander (9-8) on a neutral floor losing a fourth consecutive five-set match to the Bearcats. The Eagles had been 10-1 when leading 2-1 in the match entering this season but is now 6-3 in 2021.
After a tight start to the contest, the Eagles used a 6-1 burst to go on top 17-12 only to see the Bearcats race back using a 4-0 surge to pull level at 22. C-N won the next two points and sealed the opening game on a kill from Wheeler.
Lander led wire-to-wire in the second set jumping out to a 5-1 pushing it out to an eight-point differential at 17-9. The Eagles chipped away but could only get within five the rest of the way falling on a kill from Daria De Carvalho Peixe.
Tiernan's troops rung the bell in the third set breaking an 8-8 tie with a 4-0 burst, a lead it would never let slip away winning 16 of the next 23 points to go on top 23-15. Following back-to-back points by the 'Cats, a block and a kill from Taylor Keeran (Galion, Ohio) put the unit on top 2-1 in the match.
There were six ties in the fourth but Lander never let the lead out of its grasp charging out to a 7-3 start. The Eagles battled back to knot the tally at 16, 17, 18 and 19 but Lander won six of the last seven rallies to force a fifth and decisive game.
In the final set, the two teams traded blows over the first 10 rallies before the Bearcats won five in a row to break up a five-all tie into a 10-5 edge. The Eagles mustered two more points the rest of the way committing two attack errors at the end falling in five sets for the fourth time in five tries on the year.
Wheeler paced the unit's attack with 13 kills adding 19 digs while Keeran was the only other player in double figures with 10, her fifth time this season, hitting .409 adding a solo block and six block assists.
Abbey Hildenbrand (Parker, Colo.) dished out 28 assists adding 13 digs and four kills while Hayden Barton (Hixson, Tenn.) paced the back line with 22 digs chipping in three aces. Blake Cherry (Cookeville, Tenn.) registered a dozen scoops.
Christina Aguayo led all players with 23 kills hitting .283 for her fifth match of at least 20 smashes for the 14th-most prolific swinger in the nation. She added 14 digs.
Three others players recorded double-digit kills With De Carvalho Peixe pacing the next group with 15. Maya Walker finished with 14 and Olivia Dow piled up 13.
Madilyn Reed produced a double-double with 60 assists and 22 digs and Patricia Pantoja ended the afternoon with 27 digs and eight assists.
2️⃣2️⃣ @juliawheerr kills
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) October 22, 2021
2️⃣1️⃣ @hbarton12 digs
4️⃣7️⃣ @abbeyh65 assists
3️⃣ @KeeranTaylor blocks
✅ First @CarsonNewmanVB road win over USC Aiken pic.twitter.com/CnjZDhK51R
Match Two: CARSON-NEWMAN 3, USC Aiken 2
In a match that featured 27 ties and a dozen lead changes, the Pacers led from start to finish minus four ties in the opening game. It was tight for much of the set before a 6-0 spurt pushed a three-point edge into a 23-14 advantage for the Pacers. After the Eagles won four in a row, Kayla Duggan smashed a ball to the ground to go on top 1-0. Carson-Newman had been 2-8 when dropping the first set this year.
The Eagles fired back in the second breaking a 10-all tie with four unanswered and a 10-2 run overall to go ahead 20-12. Aiken pulled within three at 24-21 before Wheeler put the finishing touches on the game and pull the visitors level.
After falling behind 7-4 in the third, C-N once again used a 10-2 burst to gain control pushing the lead out to as many as six at 17-11. Despite a Pacer push, Keeran rocketed a ball off of the hardwood to put the unit ahead 2-1 for the second time on the day.
In the fourth, there were nine ties and three lead changes but USC Aiken slowly built a quality bulge of seven points knocking the door down on a kill from Sadie McKay to force a fifth set.
To open the decisive game, C-N came out firing going ahead 8-2 only to see the Pacers counter with an 8-1 sequence putting the Eagles in a 10-9 hole. The Orange and Blue trailed until at 12-11 the team won three straight closing it out on the 20th bomb from Wheeler.
Despite Aiken holding a 61-56 edge in the kills category, the Eagles committed eight fewer errors and posted a .213 hitting percentage using 10 blocks to maintain the overall lead in the match.
Wheeler's final numbers read 22 kills, 20 digs, four block assists, two assists and an ace while hitting .296 from the left pin. It was the fifth time this year that she had at least 20 smashes.
Keeran continued her onslaught of the inflated sphere matching a career high with 15 kills pounding the ball at a .333 margin with a solo block and four block assists. The duo combined for 37 of the team's 56 blasts as no other Eagle had more than six.
Hildenbrand dished out 47 assists chipping in eight digs and six kills. Barton and Cherry recorded 21 and 17 digs respectively.
Alie Smith paced the Pacers with 22 kills tallying 18 digs and seven of the team's 11 service aces. Alisha Pitt hit an eye-popping .458 with 13 kills and McKay finished with 11.
Kari Mercer piled up a match-high 33 digs out of the back row and Carolina Foster dished out 32 assists.
Carson-Newman is back in action on Saturday with two matches. The first starts at 11 a.m. against Georgia College wrapping up the night at 5 p.m. versus Augusta from the Centennial Center in Milledgeville, Ga.
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