WINGATE, N.C. - On the road for its first two-match South Atlantic Conference weekend of the year, Carson-Newman collides with one of the hottest teams in the nation, No. 22 Wingate, Friday at 7 p.m. from Cuddy Arena and one of the coldest, Coker, Saturday at 2 p.m. inside of the DeLoach Center.
"It really doesn't matter who we play, what that jersey looks like, what gym we are in or who our opponent is, if we play our game against any opponent we meet I truly believe that we can beat anybody on the court," Carson-Newman coach Ashley Tiernan said. "Yes it's Wingate but as long as we don't mentally come into that game already beaten we will be just fine."
Since 2014, Carson-Newman (17-2, 10-1) is 3-9 against top 25 teams with all three wins coming against ranked Wingate (21-1, 12-0) clubs in 2019 roughly a month apart. Three of the last clashes against top 25 teams have been against the Bulldogs with the outlier coming in 2019 National Quarterfinal against No. 19 Rockhurst. The lone road win of the trio came on Nov. 4, 2014 when C-N won in five frames against seventh-ranked Wingate.
The Eagles have won seven matches in a row, the second-longest in the league and 20th-longest in the nation. A pair of Conference Carolinas groups have strings longer but Wingate holds the longest in the region and second-best in the nation at 19 to Wayne State's 21, the lone remaining undefeated team in Division II. Across all three divisions, the mark is also good for second with Towson (Division I) and Claremont-Mudd Scripps (Division III) each winning 18 in a row to pace their levels.
Friday evening marks the 70th all-time meeting between the two programs with the Bulldogs holding a 53-16 overall lead including a 27-5 mark on their home floor. C-N has won two of the last three matches after a four-year drought between wins.
It has been 31 days since the Eagles last lost falling in three games at Mars Hill on Sept. 13 while Wingate has not dropped a match in 48 days falling in four sets to defending National Champion Tampa on Aug. 27.
The Bulldogs have won 16 straight at Cuddy Arena, tied for the fourth-longest active mark in the nation with Western Washington at the top with 30 while Ashland and Southwestern Oklahoma have won 17 in a row. Tusculum was the last team to win at Wingate winning in five sets on Sept. 11, 2021. Since 2015, the team is 100-3 at home with 2014 being the last time the team lost multiple home affairs.
Coach Shelton Collier's team had won 33 straight sets before falling in the second at Limestone on Saturday. Of the 21 wins, 17 have been via a sweep while the other four have been decided in four sets.
One of the most efficient teams in the nation, the Bulldogs rank sixth nationally with a .284 hitting percentage averaging a league-best 13.77 kills per set. The club has hit below .200 three times for the year while hitting above .300 11 times including an absurd .551 margin in a sweep of Coker on Sept. 6. Of the 15 statistical areas ranked by the NCAA, the Bulldogs lead the league in 12.
Four players rank in the top 12 in the conference in hitting margin with Emily Johnson ranking fourth at .384 while placing 29th nationally with 1.16 blocks per set. She has not made more than three attack errors in a match this year with 15 outings of at least three rejections.
Saturday will be the 16th time the Eagles collide with the Snakes with C-N holding a 12-3 overall advantage having won six of the last seven with the lone outlier coming on Oct. 20, 2018 in four sets in Hartsville.
Coker is on the opposite side of the spectrum than Wingate with the fewest sets won overall, 12, and against the SAC, three, of any team in the conference. The team has lost 12 of the last 13 matches with the lone exception coming on Sept. 29 at Emory & Henry where it took the Cobras five frames to win its lone SAC match. Otherwise the team has been swept in every league affair to date.
The Cobras rank eighth from the bottom in the country in opponent hitting percentage allowing a .253 margin while the team is 271st out of 280 in kills per set with 8.72, both areas where the team is last in the conference. The club ranks in the 200s nationally of every stat other than being 185th in attacks per set.
Chelsey Blume is 10th in the conference in points per set with 3.30 and is hitting .225 for the year while ranking fourth in the league with 1.04 blocks per set. She has been in double figures in kills four times including a season-high 22 in the win over the Wasps where she hit .436.
Fans can use their FloSports subscription or sign up for one to watch the matches over the weekend and every contest all season long. Follow along to @CN_Eagles on Twitter and Instagram for in-game updates.
- CN -
