HARROGATE, Tenn. – Carson-Newman suffered its first conference defeat in a road contest at Lincoln Memorial.

Carson-Newman (11-4, 7-1 SAC) took the first set before falling in the next three as Lincoln Memorial (10-4, 4-3 SAC) seemed to solve the puzzle of Carson-Newman's blocking.

The loss snapped the Railsplitters' seven-match conference winning streak and six-match winning streak overall. The Railsplitters became the first team in seven matches to hit over .100 against Carson-Newman.

Maddie Hurst (Blaine, Tenn.) led the charge for Carson-Newman with ten kills as Blair Cherry (Knoxville, Tenn.) notched a double-double for the second straight match with 39 assists and 18 digs in the losing effort.

First Set (25-17, C-N) – Carson-Newman started red hot, beginning the match on a 6-0 scoring run, using a 10-1 run later to put the stranglehold on LMU. The Splitters made their fair share of mistakes hitting .062 in the frame. Four Eagles had three kills or more in the set.

Second Set (25-19, LMU) - Once again, the Eagles claimed an early lead before a mid-set 6-0 Railsplitter run gave LMU the lead in the frame and never returned it to Carson-Newman. LMU rebounded in a big way in the hitting percentage department, as after between-set adjustments, the Splitters were able to hit .312.

Third Set (25-22, LMU) – The third was tightly contested as both sides did not want to give up the advantage heading into the fourth set. Carson-Newman held a 17-15 lead towards the middle of the set, but LMU chipped away, taking the set and the match lead from C-N.

Fourth Set (25-19, LMU) – The Railsplitters took the momentum from the previous two sets and used it to their advantage, taking a five-point 14-9 lead before Carson-Newman called timeout. The Eagles battled back, bringing the set within two, but back-to-back kills from Lincoln Memorial's Kristen Moehring put the match away to hand C-N its first conference loss under head coach Cat Collins.

The victory for Lincoln Memorial snaps a ten-match skid against the Eagles dating back to 2018.

Despite the result, the Eagles still hold the top spot in the South Atlantic Conference but face another test in two days on the road against Wingate, which received votes in the latest coaches poll.

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