JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - Riding a string of 18 straight sets won, Carson-Newman returns to South Atlantic Conference action on Friday night at 7 p.m. from Holt Fieldhouse in a rematch of the 2021 SAC Quarterfinals against Lenoir-Rhyne.
"We have to continue the way that we've been playing," Carson-Newman coach Ashley Tiernan said. "We gotta focus on our game and not focus too much about them."
The Eagles have recorded six sweeps in a row to match the program record for straight sweeps also doing so from Sept. 1-8, 2007 during a season where the team won 13 straight matches overall to begin the year, nine coming in straight sets.
Carson-Newman (16-2, 9-1) is off to its best 10-match start to the league slate since 2015 when the unit opened the year 14-1 gliding to an 18-4 league finish before winning the region championship. So far this year the team has lost seven sets in SAC action with six coming via a sweep.
The Orange and Blue collide with Lenoir-Rhyne (12-5, 8-2) for the 70th time with the Eagles holding a 41-28 advantage having won seven of the last nine but the Bears have won two of the last three including a four-set win in the conference tournament quarterfinals in 2021.
C-N won the first set and had a pair of set points in the second before falling 28-26 and despite hitting .248 lost in four frames. Erin Edwards tallied a career-high 21 kills but the Bears tallied 68 kills, 14 more than any other team against the Eagles in a four-set affair.
After opening the year 2-3, Lenoir-Rhyne is 10-2 with losses at Wingate on Sept. 20 and at home to Tusculum last Saturday in four sets. The club is 8-2 in home and neutral matches but holds a 4-3 record in true road affairs despite being more efficient hitting .221 versus a .213 clip at home.
Coach Nicole Barringer's team is one of the top point-scoring teams in the league sitting atop the standings in aces per set with 2.22, good for 28th nationally, and second in kills per set at 13.41, sitting in 33rd in Division II. The group has hit at least .250 in eight of the 17 matches with 10 outings of at least eight aces.
Three players rank in the top nine of the conference in kills per set with Emmaleigh Allen pacing the unit with 2.95. The rookie has eight double-digit kill nights including a 23-kill outburst at Newberry on Sept. 17 but has just one such match since over her last six with 47 kills and 38 errors.
Colette Romp, the reigning SAC Offensive Player of the Week, has picked up the slack with three straight matches of at least 10 smashes brining her season total to seven for the year. She racked up a team-high 19 kills while hitting .405 in last year's tournament outing.
The Bears rank seventh in the conference in blocks per set averaging 1.63 having zero matches with double figures for the year. Opponents are hitting .154 and the team has lost two of the three outings with a season-high nine rejections.
Fans can use their FloSports subscription or sign up for one to watch the every contest all season long. Follow along to @CN_Eagles on Twitter and Instagram for in-game updates.
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