HARTSVILLE, S.C. – Carson-Newman fell in four sets on the road to Coker in a crucial stretch in the final part of the season.

Coker (5-16, 4-11 SAC) won just its second match in its home arena and earned its biggest win of the season overall, taking down Carson-Newman (16-8, 12-4 SAC) in four sets.

Coker caught lightning in a bottle, hitting in the high .200 range through the first two sets, while Carson-Newman struggled to find its footing with a mark of .134 through sets one and two.

The Cobras were led by a combination of Cayla Gilmore and Taylor Hills, who found 14 and 16 kills, respectively, while setter Laila Hixon found a double-double.

Carson-Newman had a variety of individual standouts, including Maddie Hurst (Blaine, Tenn.), who led the Eagles with 15 kills. Emerson Ahsmuhs (Placentia, Calif.) and Taylor Keeran (Galion, Ohio) each had 11. Setter Blair Cherry (Knoxville, Tenn.) found her third straight double-double with 38 assists and 15 digs.

Defensively, Bennett McCombs (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) and Blair Cherry each had 15 digs to lead the squad, while Keeran had three total blocks to lead that category. A notable stat was service aces, of which Carson-Newman had seven, two each coming from Blake Cherry (Cookeville, Tenn.), McKenna Hall (Bristol, Wis.), and McCombs.

The loss to Coker is Carson-Newman's first since 2018. It also came in four sets on the road. The loss also snapped a five-match winning streak against the Cobras.

First Set (25-20, COKER) – Carson-Newman gifted Coker seven points in the frame from attacking errors as the Eagles struggled to find their footing in the early stages of the opening set. Coker used an early 4-0 run followed by a late 4-1 run to take a large lead. Carson-Newman returned within a point at 21-20 before the Cobras found another set of four points in quick succession to take the early lead.

Second Set (25-19, COKER) – A breath of confidence overtook the Cobras, hitting over .400 for most of the set before returning to Earth to hit .324. The Eagles struggled to find answers for Coker, leading to an early C-N timeout with a 12-4 Coker lead. The pace never slowed, as Carson-Newman never tied the set after that point, only coming as close as three points.

Third Set (25-15, C-N) – In Carson-Newman's only set victory of the night, it looked as good as it has all season. The Eagles' defense held Coker to a .083 hitting percentage as five Eagles found a kill in the frame. Keeran highlighted C-N individually with four kills and a percentage of .500 in the set. After the Eagles took the first point, they never trailed, convincingly taking the set and trying to rally the momentum for a potential reverse sweep.

Fourth Set (25-20, COKER) – The momentum gained from the first set would carry over to the fourth, but it wouldn't last. Carson-Newman led by as much as four points at 11-7, but Coker took over, reincarnating their style of play from the first two sets, going on a 7-0 run to take the lead. The Eagles would pull back within a tie but never saw the lead again to fall on the road to the Cobras.

The loss pulls C-N down to third in the South Atlantic Conference, just a half-match ahead of Anderson, one of Carson-Newman's remaining two matches on the schedule. After the loss to Mars Hill on Wednesday night, the fate of Carson-Newman's chances for an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament hangs in the balance. If the season were to end on Friday night, Carson-Newman would host Tusculum in the SAC Quarterfinals.

Carson-Newman's penultimate regular season match will take place on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. against Limestone before returning home for the regular season finale against Anderson next Friday night.

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