VIDEO: Ashley Tiernan Interview

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - Carson-Newman (8-9, 6-3 SAC) fell at home for the first time this season to #24 Wingate (13-2, 6-1 SAC) on Friday night.

The Bulldogs secured a victory in the duel between the reigning Mountain and Piedmont division champions. Friday night marked the first five set match between Carson-Newman and Wingate since 2017. 

"I can't be more proud of them than I am right now." said head coach Ashley Tiernan. "We've had a lot of adversity this year but we've really fought through a lot of things. Tonight just really showed that we are capable of absolutely fighting for everything and wanting something bigger than us."  

Julia Wheeler reminded fans that she is undefendable, recording 27 kills for the third time in her career, a match of the school record set by Molly Locke in 2015. She moves into conference leader for kills per set with an average of 3.65. Her diligent performance on Friday night marked the first time an Eagle has earned over 20 kills in a match this season. 

The senior's 84 attack attempts marked the second-most attempts in a match in school history, after Megan Oldenburger who recorded 99 in 2017. 

Freshman Blair Cherry conquered a new personal record of 52 assists in one match. Her prior record was 42, set on Sept. 29 against Mars Hill. Cherry's performance tied for seventh highest count of assists in a five set match in school history. 

At the end line, Mckenna Hall dished out five service aces for the Eagles who collected 10 in total. Both teams were high in service errors, C-N with ten and Wingate with seven. 

Freshman libero Trinity Hafey set a personal high of 29 digs while Julia Wheeler picked up 26. Hafey and Wheeler are the only two Eagles to collect over 20 digs in a match this season. Blair Cherry also neared the mark with 19 saves on the night. 

Three Eagles earned double-doubles. Taylor Adams garnered her first ever with 13 kills and 10 digs. Blair Cherry notched her fifth as a freshman with 52 assists and 19 digs. Julia Wheeler collected her fourth on the season and 37th in her career with 27 kills and 26 digs. The Bulldogs only recorded one double-double for the evening, Amber Rowoldt with 15 kills and 17 digs. 

Wingate was led in kills by Gabby Saye, with 19 a .375 percentage. Libero Maggie Mullen's 31 digs were good for a match high. As a unit, the Bulldog's 12 team blocks outshined C-N's three. 

Carson-Newman and Wingate tied a total of 25 times with 8 lead changes, the most from a five set match so far this season. 

The Eagles are 3-1 in five set matches this year, 10-10 in the Ashley Tiernan era. They stand 2-5 against ranked opponents in Tiernan's time at Carson-Newman. 

Set 1 (25-23)

A four point run to start play set C-N up with a sizable gap that went uncontested until the first tie at 16-16. After the initial, eight more ties along with a pair of lead swaps plagued set one. The Eagles and the Bulldogs went point for point until Taylor Keeran clinched the set for Carson-Newman with a kill assisted by Blair Cherry. Julia Wheeler and Taylor Adams dominated offensively in the first frame. Wheeler notched six while Adams racked up five kills in eight attempts with no errors for a .625 hitting percentage. 

Set 2 (15-25)

In set two, Wingate jumped ahead with a 7-1 start on the Eagles. Carson-Newman managed to close in to a two point margin but were held off by the determined 'dogs. Wingate's blistering .441 hitting efficiency kept the Eagles at a ten point deficit to conclude frame two. 

Set 3 (27-25)

In the most exciting set of the night, both teams hit evenly at .107, tied up eight times, and swapped leads four times. Wheeler rang in seven kills for the Orange and Blue and Amber Rowoldt collected five for the Bulldogs. Mckenna Hall tallied four service aces in set three. Her back to back aces late in the set tied the teams at 24-24 then gave C-N match point at 25-24. 

Set 4 (24-26)

C-N lingered behind Wingate for the majority of set four, taking the lead only once for a brief point. The Bulldogs earned a match high 19 kills and five blocks that clinched the set and tied the match at 2-2. Wheeler led both teams offensively and defensively with seven kills and 12 digs, nearly notching a double-double in one set. 

Set 5 (8-15)

A nearly flawless performance by Wingate sealed the match with a seven point surplus at the end of the fifth. Their 10 kills in 22 attempts with no errors was good for a match high .455 percentage. They recorded no hitting, blocking, or recieving errors in the final frame, only one at the service line. 

Carson-Newman is back on the road, heading to Greenville, Tenn. where they will face the Tusculum Pioneers on Tuesday, Oct. 10 at 6 p.m.