MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. – Racking up a .231 hitting percentage, Carson-Newman found a rhythm after falling behind 1-0 to take down Georgia College in four frames, 16-25, 25-20, 25-14 and 25-16, Saturday at the Centennial Center to open day two of the South Atlantic Conference/Peach Belt Conference Crossover.
In the fourth meeting between the two programs, Carson-Newman (14-10) evens the series with a second consecutive win over Georgia College (8-17) while running its road winning streak to four in a row.
Abbey Hildenbrand (Parker, Colo.) filled up the stats with 49 assists, seven digs and seven kills on 14 swings. Hayden Barton (Hixson, Tenn.) picked up 22 digs and Taylor Rohr (Windsor, Colo.) added 11.
Three Eagles finished in double figures in kills led by Julia Wheeler (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) who finished with 21 on a .302 hitting clip adding 17 digs.
2️⃣1️⃣ @juliawheerr kills
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) October 23, 2021
2️⃣2️⃣ @hbarton12 digs
4️⃣9️⃣ @abbeyh65 assists
2️⃣ @KeeranTaylor blocks
4️⃣ straight @CarsonNewmanVB road wins pic.twitter.com/DCb7RQgONq
Skylor Weaver (Katy, Texas) nearly doubled her career high in the area with 11 on a .474 margin adding four block assists. Blake Cherry (Cookeville, Tenn.) tallied a double-double with 10 kills and a dozen digs.
The Bobcats came out of the gates swinging with 17 kills hitting .311 in the opening game. With the score tied at 10, Georgia College rattled off 10 of the next 13 points to open up a seven-point lead sealing a 1-0 edge on a kill from Ally Hall.
There were six ties and two lead changes in the second set but the Eagles charge out to a 7-2 lead only to see the Bobcats come back to a 9-9 score. It remained level until the Orange and Blue flipped a 16-16 score into a 22-17 lead using the edge to pave the way for Cherry to blast a ball to the ground and even the match.
With the score tied at two in the third, C-N used a 6-2 run to get a lead that would only grow the rest of the set finishing on a 7-1 run to dominate the game punctuated by a kill from Weaver to put the club ahead.
For a second straight set, Wheeler produced seven kills getting the Eagles on the board after falling into a 3-0 hole. A 5-0 surge broke up an eight-all tie and gave the visitors the lead for good as the redshirt-sophomore polished off the set with her 21st kill of the day.
The 'Cats have dropped seven of their last nine matches and tallied a total of 12 kills combined over the final two sets. Hall led the way with 13 kills and 13 digs with Sarah Mangan chipping in eight on a .353 hitting percentage.
Lauren Talele handed out 38 assists and picked up 11 digs. Sarah Stewart paced the back line with 19 digs adding six kills and Bella DeSalvo piling up 16 scoops for Georgia College.
The Eagles conclude the weekend at 5 p.m. Saturday evening against Augusta tying a bow on the SAC/PBC Crossover in the final non-conference match of 2021.
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