WINGATE, N.C. – In a match with a total differential of eight points, third-seeded Carson-Newman's 2022 NCAA Tournament ended abruptly falling to sixth-seeded Flagler, 25-27, 22-25 and 21-25, Friday at Cuddy Arena.
"At the end of the day we just didn't execute," Carson-Newman volleyball coach Ashley Tiernan said. "There is really nothing else to say. Our attackers didn't put the ball where we knew could and defensively pick up what we could. I am proud of each one of my athletes and we just couldn't get it done today."
The Eagles had won six of their last seven matches against teams from the Southeast Region since the start of the 2015 NCAA Volleyball Championships. Carson-Newman (27-6) moves to 9-9 in program history in the postseason losing in the opening round for the second time in the last seven trips to the tournament.
With 27 wins, the Orange and Blue close the year with the fourth-most victories for a season in school history. C-N drops back-to-back matches for the first time since the end of the 2021 regular season being swept for just the second time in 2022.
Skylor Weaver (Katy, Texas) paced the Eagles with nine kills without an error on 13 swings hitting .692 going the final four matches of the year without a mistake tallying 23 kills.
Julia Wheeler (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) was held below double-digit kills for the second time this year posting eight kills bringing her season total to 504, the second player in C-N history with 500 for a season, 18 behind the record.
Abbey Hildenbrand (Parker, Colo.) finished with 27 assists, eight digs and four kills finishing her career with 3,487 assists and 1,139 scoops playing in 136 matches.
Hayden Barton (Hixson, Tenn.) led all players with 20 digs for the match, the 18th time in her career she has had at least 20 in the 76 matches played. She finishes her career with 1,156 scoops, good for 10th on the school's all-time charts.
Emmagrace Cobb (Greensboro, Tenn.) posted eight kills and five block assists and Blake Cherry (Cookeville, Tenn.) registered seven smashes and six digs.
The Eagles opened the match firing taking an early 6-2 advantage only to watch the Saints rattle off six straight to go ahead 8-6. The teams traded haymakers before C-N went on top 22-19 before Flagler scored four straight to jump ahead. Tiernan's team won the next two to get to set point but the Saints won the next three. After an attack error, Flagler won two straight to take the first 27-25 despite C-N being 6-2 when sets went beyond 25 points this year.
Down 10-7, the Eagles clawed back to tie the score at 11 but an 8-2 scoring outburst by the Saints stretched the margin to 19-13. Carson-Newman closed the gap to two points but it came at 24-22 as Cecilia Robert tallied a kill to put the six seed ahead 2-0.
In the third set, it was a tight back-and-forth clash with the Eagles ahead as late as 17-16 before giving up an untimely 6-0 run to fall into a 22-17 hole. Flagler never let the led shrink to any fewer than two watching Jordan Berglin barrel a ball down the line to seal the match.
Friday was the fourth time the teams have collided and the third straight in the NCAA Tournament as the Saints have won three of the four by way of a sweep. Flagler (19-9) is 14-3 in the last 17 matches since Sept. 17.
No player on either side of the net finished in double figures with Berglin and Robert each leading the way for the Saints with nine kills and Berglin adding 10 digs. Logan Garcia hit .615 with eight kills.
Kennedy Muff filled up the stat sheet with 31 assists, 10 digs and seven kills. Edie Lamoreaux and Cameron Fenner posted 17 digs and 14 digs respectively.
To stay up to date with the latest news and notes regarding the Carson-Newman volleyball program follow @CN_Eagles on Twitter and @cnvb_ on Instagram while bookmarking cneagles.com.
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