VIDEO: Ashley Tiernan Interview
VIDEO: Skylor Weaver Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – For the second time in the last three years, Carson-Newman swept the regular-season series with Tusculum taking down the Pioneers, 21-25, 25-17, 25-19 and 25-22, Tuesday night at Holt Fieldhouse in South Atlantic Conference play.
"We never felt like we lost the momentum," Carson-Newman coach Ashley Tiernan said. "We knew we made some big errors in the first set that we couldn't make the rest of the match. We knew in the second set we had to take the momentum pretty early, shut down what we could shut down, out-defend them and do what we could to put the ball down."
Carson-Newman (19-3, 12-2) improved its home record to 7-0 for the year, the fifth-longest home winning streak in the region. The Eagles pull even at 16 in home meetings with Tusculum (8-9, 8-6) in a match with 21 ties and eight lead changes.
Three Eagles finished with double-doubles led by 45 assists, 11 digs and three total blocks from Abbey Hildenbrand (Parker, Colo.). Julia Wheeler (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) led all players with 18 kills adding 12 digs and Blake Cherry (Cookeville, Tenn.) added 12 kills and 12 digs.
Skylor Weaver (Katy, Texas) tallied her first double-digit kill effort of the year finishing with 10 hitting .368 scoring 11.5 points with three block assists.
"I was playing middle in the middle in the beginning then I switched to right side before going back to middle," Weaver said. "Abbey and I connect really well in the Bs particularly and I was just putting them down."
Hayden Barton (Hixson, Tenn.) led the way with 18 digs as the group finished with 11 total blocks, the second-highest total of the year holding the Pioneers to a .091 clip, the team's third-lowest of the season.
1️⃣8️⃣ @juliawheerr kills
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) October 19, 2022
1️⃣8️⃣ @hbarton12 digs
4️⃣5️⃣ @abbeyh65 assists
3️⃣.5️⃣ @CobbEmmagrace blocks
7️⃣-0 @CarsonNewmanVB record at home pic.twitter.com/d10UxOebPS
In the first set, the two teams traded leads four times and the score was tied on 10 occasions. Carson-Newman's largest lead was two points but a 4-0 Tusculum burst put the visitors ahead 18-15. The Eagles battled back to tie the score at 20 but a 3-0 surge and five of the final six went to the Pioneers to take the 1-0 lead.
The two sides were tied seven times through the first 16 rallied but C-N used a 12-1 outburst to flip an 8-7 deficit into a 19-9 advantage sandwiching 6-0 bursts around Tusculum points. The Eagles hit .323 for the set with Cherry putting the finishing touches on the game with a kill to level the match at two.
Tiernan's team carried the momentum into the third set winning seven of the first eight points leading wire-to-wire in the game. The Pioneers were able to claw within three on two occasions but the Eagles had the answer each time with Emmagrace Cobb (Greensboro, N.C.) pounding a ball through the block to give the home team the lead.
There were four ties in the fourth set with C-N breaking a 7-7 tie with an 8-2 outburst while swelling the bulge to 18-10. Tusculum chiseled into the margin cutting the score to three points at 23-20 before the Eagles capped the match with a block from Cobb and Hildenbrand.
Emiah Burrowes entered the match third in the conference in kills per set but was limited to nine kills and eight errors adding 11 digs. Peyton Gash paced the team with 12 kills hitting .333.
Carly Sosnowski led all players with 19 digs tossing in six assists. Samantha Bunch finished with a double-double of 16 assists and 11 digs.
The Eagles return to action on Friday with the first of three matches against the Belt for the weekend starting at 2 p.m. against Lander. The game can be streamed on FloSports with a subscription. Follow along on Twitter and Instagram @CN_eagles for updates throughout the match.
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