NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Four Eagles tallied double-doubles and despite leading 2-1 in the match, Carson-Newman dropped a tight affair in the Music City to Trevecca Nazarene, 18-25, 25-23, 25-23, 22-25, 9-15, in the nightcap of Friday's festivites of the Trevecca Tournament.
"I am overall happy with our play today," Carson-Newman coach Ashley Tiernan said. "We beat ourselves in the second match and gave up big points at big moments. As a team we learned a lot today and will continue to improve going into tomorrow."
With a quartet of double-doubles, the Eagles hit that mark in a single match for the first time since Oct. 5, 2018 against Lenoir-Rhyne, a span of 93 matches and 1,445 days. Julia Wheeler (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) totaled 19 kills and 18 digs with fellow outside hitter Blake Cherry (Cookeville, Tenn.) posting 14 kills and 14 digs. From the setter position, Carlee Allbaugh (Tallahassee, Fla.) dished out 30 assists and had 11 digs while Abbey Hildenbrand (Parker, Colo.) posted 21 assists and 16 digs.
McKenna Hall (Bristol, Wis.) finished with 11 digs. Emmagrace Cobb (Greensboro, Tenn.) and Taylor Keeran (Galion, Ohio) each notched seven smashes.
Carson-Newman (1-1) had rattled off four straight wins and held a 5-1 record in the all-time series before Friday as Trevecca Nazarene (2-0) beat the Eagles for the first time since 1992.
The Orange and Blue were on top 8-7 in the opening game before the home group won 10 striaght points to take control of the first frame cruising to a 1-0 lead as Emilee McDonald capped the set with a kill.
Overall the match featured 29 ties and 14 lead changes with 10 and six repsectively taking place in the second. C-N held the edge for much of the second half of the second but did not pull away taking three of the final four leveling the terms on a block by Keeran and Skylor Weaver (Katy, Texas).
Once again in the third, the Eagles needed the minimum amount of points to win the set but this time it was a comeback. Behind 19-15, C-N won eight of the next nine points with an Allbaugh ace making it a 23-20 lead. Wheeler put the visitors on top 2-1 in the match with a blistering kill.
Down by three early, the Eagles battled back to tie the score at 20 in the fourth, five points away from clinching the match. However, Trevecca won four straight and despite staving out two set points, Emma Titus forced a fifth set.
Carson-Nemwan dug itself a 6-2 hole early in the fifth but pulled within a point on two occasions. It could never get fully over the mountain falling on a ball-handling error to finish the match,
Ellie Buffler led the Trojans with 17 kills with Titus adding 13. McDonald filled up the stat sheet with 42 assists, eight digs, seven kills and three aces. Maddie Wilds led the team with 20 digs chipping in eight smashes.
The Eagles are back in action with two matches on Saturday starting at 2 p.m. against King. Follow along to @CN_Eagles on Twitter and Instagram for in-game updates with stats and video available on portal.stretchinternet.com/Trevecca.
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