VIDEO: Ashley Tiernan Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Leading 2-1 in the match, Carson-Newman was unable to close out Tusculum for the second time this season falling 25-19, 22-25, 25-23, 20-25 and 11-15 against the Pioneers in South Atlantic Conference play Friday evening at Holt Fieldhouse.
"We fought and we were intense," Carson-Newman coach Ashley Tiernan said. "They did the things we asked them to do. I think we were more coachable in this game than we had been in the past six or seven matches. The difference was this was the last time we were going to be on our home court this year. We had two seniors to fight for and I think that really rallied us together."
Friday night was the 16th time in the series history that the teams have needed five sets with Tusculum (18-4, 14-3) winning for the 12th time and eighth in a row. Carson-Newman (17-13, 10-7) last won a five-set contest against the Pioneers on Oct. 20, 2009 at Pioneer Arena. The Eagles fall to 2-6 in five-set matches this year.
Julia Wheeler (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) and Erin Edwards (Midlothian, Va.) tied for the team lead with 11 kills on the night with the former producing a dozen digs for her 12th double-double of the year. Edwards added two block assists.
Abbey Hildenbrand (Parker, Colo.) compiled her 13th double-double in 2021 with 24 assists and 11 digs. Taylor Rohr (Windsor, Colo.) produced a double-double for the first time as a senior and 18th time for her career with 11 assists and 10 digs. Blake Cherry (Cookeville, Tenn.) led the team for the fourth consecutive outing with 17 digs adding nine kills and two aces while Taylor Keeran (Galion, Ohio) finished with seven block assists.
As a unit, the Eagles mustered 45 kills on a .106 hitting percentage tallying a dozen kills to 14 attack errors in the final two frames. C-N posted 69 digs, 12.5 blocks and seven aces.
Thank you @erinedwards31 and @trohr14 ��@CarsonNewmanVB pic.twitter.com/g1UnAZy0vY
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) November 13, 2021
Tusculum used a 6-1 surge to go on top 7-4 before the Eagles won five in a row and 12 of the next 15 to jump out to a 16-10 lead. The closest the visitors could get the rest of the game was four points with Wheeler smashing a ball off of the block to secure a 1-0 lead.
In the second set, the Pioneers came out of the gates on fire winning six of the first seven points and building an 11-point bulge at 22-11. Carson-Newman fired back winning five straight and 11 of 13 to close the margin to 24-22 before Emma Johnson bounced a ball off of the hands of C-N's front line to level the contest.
Behind a 6-1 sequence, Tusculum built up a six-point margin at 13-7 holding the advantage as late as 22-21 before the Eagles responded by winning three in a row to get to set point marking their first lead since 3-2. Unable to convert on the first chance, a net violation from the Pioneers capped the comeback and put the home crew ahead 2-1.
Once again the Eagles battled back after falling in a hole in the fourth. Down 13-8, C-N battled back to take a 17-16 edge but with the score tied at 19, the Pioneers won six of the final seven points to force a fifth set. The Orange and Blue committed 10 attack errors to just nine kills in the game.
The Pioneers raced out to a 7-4 lead before the Eagles bounced back by winning four straight capped by an ace from Wheeler to go ahead 8-7. However Tusculum answered with three straight and seven of the final 10 points to seal the win on a kill from Carly Pigza.
Tusculum hit at least .200 in each of the final three sets to finish with a .153 margin adding 61 kills, 83 digs and eight blocks while being limited to five aces after posting 15 in the first meeting and ranking 19th in the country with 2.10 per set this year.
"We talk about being the best serve receive team in this conference," Tiernan said. "I truly believe that. I don't just tell my girls that to blow smoke. I truly believe we have the best passers in the conference. Serve receive is something we are really strong at. We have some really strong serve receive players on the bench that can go in there if I need them. That's a big part of our game that I make sure is really on point."
Pigza led all players with a season-high 19 smashes hitting .302 with six digs. Emiah Burrowes racked up 15 kills and 11 digs while Emma Johnson added 10 blasts.
Elise Carmichael added a double-double with 27 assists and 14 digs while Carly Sosnowski and Raeley Matthews paced all players with 20 digs.
The Eagles wrap up the season with their 13th road match of the season travelling to UVA Wise for a 5 p.m. first serve against a Cavaliers team that C-N toppled in straight sets on Sept. 25.
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