GREENEVILLE, Tenn. - For the first time since 2000, Carson-Newman and Tusculums square off in August as the South Atlantic Conference season opens Tuesday night at 6 p.m. on the Pioneer Arena.
Since 2014, the school has started the conference slate with a victory in seven of the last eight years with a 7-0 league open in 2014 standing out as the best. The last time the team did not win the opening match came in 2018 falling in straight sets to Wingate on Sept. 21.
Carson-Newman and Tusculum are set to collide for the 66th all-time meeting between the two programs with the Pioneers holding a 35-30 edge in the series thanks to a pair of five-set triumphs in 2021. While the Eagles are 13-17 in Greeneville, the club has won three of their last four visits.
Dating back to the first meeting on record in 1990, the teams have only met once in the month of August coming in 2000 when on Aug. 29 Tusculum swept C-N on its home floor.
In the two contests in 2021, the Eagles hit .110 and .106 respectively while holding the Pioneers to a hitting mark below .200 in each outing. In the Nov. 12 clash, the Orange and Blue led 1-0 and 2-1 before falling 25-20 and 15-11.
Tusculum did not play a match in the opening weekend so Tuesday is the team's season opener after the unit shared the regular-season title with Wingate and Anderson tallying 20 wins for the year. It was good enough to earn the No. 3 seed in the Southeast Regional but the team ran into the buzzsaw of Augusta who went on to win the region after winning five-set affairs over Anderson and Lenoir-Rhyne. Tuesday is the prelude to a difficult weekend that features reigning National Champion Tampa and two clubs just outside of the top 25 in Wheeling Jesuit and Colorado Mesa at Tampa's Tournament.
Coach Danielle Marante has the benefit of returning the league's Player of the Year in Emiah Burrowes. The outside hitter was the regional Player of the Year and an Honorable Mention AVCA All-American in 2021 and enters her senior season third in the program's history in kills per set.
Pioneer Arena was one of the most difficult places to play in the country a year ago as the Pioneers went 11-0 on their home floor, one of 13 teams in the nation to go unbeaten. With a 14-match winning streak at home the team entered the year with the fifth-longest mark in America having not lost a home affair since the Eagles won in four frames on Nov. 2, 2019.
Tusculum was one of the stronger defensive units in the league a year ago holding teams to a .145 hitting percentage and returns preseason first-team All-SAC libero Carly Sosnowski, who finished fourth in digs.
Fans can use their FloSports subscription or sign up for one to watch the match on Tuesday and every contest all season long.
- CN -
