AIKEN, S.C. - Recording its longest winning streak since 2019, Carson-Newman swept Francis Marion 25-18, 25-13, 25-19 and held off North Greenville in five sets, 28-30, 28-26, 25-20, 15-25 and 15-12 to wrap up action on Saturday at the Pacer Invitational.
"Our discipline and ability to keep Francis Marion out of system allowed us to dominate that match," Carson-Newman coach Ashley Tiernan said. "North Greenville is a very powerful and well trained team and I am proud of the fight and efforts we had to win that match in five."
The Eagles have rolled off seven wins in a row and eight of the first nine to begin the year. The winning streak is the longest by the program since securing seven straight at the end of the 2019 season winning the SAC Tournament and NCAA Southeast Regional title. Overall, Carson-Newman's (8-1) record is the best start to a season since going 8-1 out of the gates in 2015.
Match One: CARSON-NEWMAN 3, Francis Marion 0
With one match in the series over the last decade prior to Saturday, Carson-Newman improves to 6-4 tallying a second consecutive sweep over Francis Marion (3-3). The Eagles have won all four matches between the two programs away from Holt Fieldhouse.
Julia Wheeler (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) led all players with 17 kills making just two mistakes on a .441 attack percentage. The Eagles saw eight different players record a kill while hitting .319 as a unit.
Carlee Allbaugh (Tallahassee, Fla.) continued her solid start to the year with 20 assists and 10 digs. Abbey Hildenbrand (Parker, Colo.) dished out 17 assists and Hayden Barton (Hixson, Tenn.) added 10 scoops.
The Eagles held a slight 6-5 lead before getting hot winning 12 of the next 15 points to take control of the first set. Wheeler put the finishing touches on a decisive first set victory with a kill.
In the second stanza, the Patriots committed as many errors, nine, as they had kills. C-N jumped out to 13-5 lead before a timeout paused the action. it did not slow the Eagles who allowed Francis Marion to win back-to-back points twice in the game with a kill from Paige Bussom (Simpsonville, S.C.) making it a 2-0 match.
Francis Marion held the lead for the majority of the third set clinging to a 15-14 margin before C-N won five of seven. The Patriots came back to tie the score at 19 only to see the Orange and Blue win the final six of the match to earn a third straight sweep.
Kayla Clayworth was the lone Patriot to reach double digits in kills posting 10 hitting .250. Kaylee Gillespie totaled a double-double with 29 assists and 11 digs, both match highs.
�� New day. Same sweeps for @CarsonNewmanVB
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) September 3, 2022
1️⃣7️⃣ @juliawheerr kills
�� @hbarton12 digs
2️⃣0️⃣ @AllbaughCarlee assists
1️⃣.5️⃣ @CobbEmmagrace blocks pic.twitter.com/y1GXOUmhAe
�� SEVEN STRAIGHT WINS
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) September 3, 2022
2️⃣2️⃣ @juliawheerr kills
1️⃣6️⃣ @hbarton12 digs
2️⃣8️⃣ @AllbaughCarlee assists
2️⃣.5️⃣ @skylorweaver_ blocks@CarsonNewmanVB is rolling pic.twitter.com/BDSICLW8kY
Match Two: CARSON-NEWMAN 3, North Greenville 2
Carson-Newman wins for the third time in three tries against North Greenville (3-5) as the programs had not met since 2013.
In offensive exhibtion, Wheeler led all players with 22 kills hitting .264 chipping in a dozen digs as one of three Eagles with a double-double. Blake Cherry (Cookeville, Tenn.) tallied 11 kills and 10 digs and Hildenbrand posted 26 assists, 10 digs, six kills and 2.5 blocks.
Allbaugh led the way with 28 assists and Emmagrace Cobb (Greensboro, N.C.) matched a career-high with 11 smashes after doing so on Nov. 13, 2021 against UVA Wise.
The Eagles got off to a great start winning 10 of the first 14 points. It was 19-13 before a 10-4 sequence deadlocked the score at 23. C-N had three set points but the Crusaders had the response each time winning three of the final four to go ahead 1-0.
North Greenville held a 16-14 edge in a back-and-forth second set before C-N found a response to take a 23-21 edge. Despite the Crusaders winning three straight to get to a set point, the Eagles bounced back and broke a 26-all tie to even the match.
Down 10-7 in the third, the Orange and Blue won six straight to get the lead but the Crusaders tied the score at 16, 17 and 19. Holding a 21-20 edge, Tiernan's team won four straight capped by an ace from Allbaugh to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Carson-Newman came out full throttle in the fourth taking an 8-3 lead but a 12-1 one by North Greenville put the group in charge winning seven straight to take a a 22-12 lead to coast to a fourth set win and force a fifth.
Once again off to a great start in the fifth, the Eagles took a 4-1 led out of the blocks. The Crusaders cut the margin to one five times and tied the score at 11 and 12. Kills from Wheeler, Taylor Keeran (Galion, Ohio) and Taylor Adams (Covington, Ga.) sealed a victory for the club.
North Greenville hit .216 compared to a .186 margin the Eagles making it just the third time in 20 tries under Tiernan that the club accomplished that.
Abigail Durham paced the unit with 17 kills adding nine digs and a couple solo blocks. Paige Campbell blasted the ball at a .571 margin tallying 14 kills and Kelli Davis chipped in 11.
Ashlyn Conner led all players with 49 assists and Whitney Kahler led the club with 15 digs.
The road swing continues for the Eagles with a road trip to Lincoln Memorial on Tuesday night for a 6 p.m. first serve against the Railsplitters.
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