October 29, 2025

Volleyball juiced up for a double dose of SAC action this weekend

Carson-Newman will play its first and only back-to-back conference games of the year. This is part of a three-game road trip that began with Emory & Henry on Tuesday and will wrap up with the #19 Wingate Bulldogs on Friday and Catawba College on Saturday.

Carson-Newman

18-4; 9-4 SAC

Wingate

22-1; 15-0 SAC

Final

Carson-Newman 18-4; 9-4 SAC

Wingate 22-1; 15-0 SAC

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - Carson-Newman will play its first and only back-to-back conference games of the year. This is part of a three-game road trip that began with Emory & Henry on Tuesday and will wrap up with the #19 Wingate Bulldogs on Friday and Catawba College on Saturday.

Last time out, Carson-Newman volleyball combined to hit above .300 and grab their 9th win in conference action. This is the 6th game in a row the Eagles have hit above .200. This moves the Eagles to 18-3 overall and 9-3 in the SAC. They are one game back of Lenoir-Rhyne for 3rd in the conference standings.

"We did great things tonight, still have things to improve for this weekend, but proud of the effort," said head coach Cat Collins following the win.

Hurst and Ahsmuhs both collect their 6th game in a row with double-digit kills. Both attackers for the Eagles hit over .300 in the contest. The reigning SAC defensive player of the week Trinity Hafey continued to shine for C-N, getting 13 digs on the night to lead the team. She was one of four Eagles to collect double-digit digs in the win. Cherry, Ahsmuhs, and Ehlers all collected 10 or more in the match. Blair Cherry collected 38 assists to go along with her digs to get her 8th double-double of the season. Ahsmuhs also collected her 12th double-double of the year.

The Wingate Bulldogs have built an empire on SAC volleyball. Wingate has appeared in the SAC Championship seven of the last ten years and has qualified for the NCAA regional each year of the previous decade. Wingate has won 18 of the last 19 regular-season SAC titles, adding 14 tournament championships in that span. Wingate has ranked in the top 10 in the nation in winning percentage every year since 2007.

This season is shaping up to be no different for the Bulldogs, ranked #19 in the nation coming into Friday and 1st in the SAC Preseason Poll for the 20th consecutive season. They have won 20 straight coming into this game and the only team the Bulldogs have lost to thus far was in their second game of the season to Lewis in four sets. The Bulldogs are incredibly well-rounded, rank top 10 in DII in five different categories and lead the SAC in eight. The mark that stands out is their digs per set. The Bulldogs' defense is grabbing 19.65 digs per set, which is 3rd nationally. They are also putting down 14.61 kills per set, slotting them 8th nationally.

Wingate returns reigning SAC Player of the Year and AVCA Region Player of the Year Sydney Morland. Moreland is third in the SAC in k/s (3.46), blocks per set (.98), and lead the league in hitting percentage (.403). They also return Maya Van Heyst, who was an All-SAC, All-Region, and All-American during the 2024 season. Van Heyst does it all for the Bulldogs, leading the conference and slotting 16th nationally in assists per set (10.60) and ranking 2nd in the SAC in aces per set. Finally, Gabby Saye and Emily Johnson were both All-Americans in 2024. Saye and Johnson are 4th and 3rd in the conference in hitting percentage, respectively. Maddie Hoffman was a second-team SAC honoree in 2024 as well. The senior currently ranks 27th in the nation and 2nd in the conference in digs per set (5.17).

The Catawba Indians had won three straight games in a row, all in sweeps, before C-N ruined their party in Holt Fieldhouse. At 8-9 on the season and 5-7 in the SAC, Catawba sits 7th in the conference standings behind C-N. Catawba was projected 10th in the SAC preseason poll. They have a two-game slate this week with Anderson on Thursday night and C-N on Friday.

The Catawba Indians have done incredibly well this year compared to last. Their kills per set (11.92) and hitting percentage clip (.186) rank 6th and 5th among SAC competition. The attack is led by Sofia Beard and Lillie Kate Rogers, who are both averaging above three kills a set and rank 8th and 9th among league competitors in that category, respectively. Both setters have allowed this team to stack up into 6th place in assists per set in the SAC (11.27). Kaley Moffett (5.63) and Tamie Boudot (5.41) are 7th and 8th in the SAC standings in assists per set.

The Catawba defense is anchored by junior libero Riley Hill, who was named the WePlayed Sports South Atlantic Conference defensive player of the week just last week. Hill is 3rd in the SAC in digs per set this season (5.14) and 28th in the nation in that category. She leads a Catawba defense that is 10th in the league standings in digs per set (15.76). The Catawba Indians are second-to-last in the conference in blocking.

Last time out against the Catawba Indians, C-N was down two sets to one, but leaned into their identity to pull out their third fifth-set win of the season. The tale of the tape was a stiff defensive effort full of long rallies as both teams were working overtime to get every ball off the floor. Both teams surpassed the 70 dig mark in the contest. On top of that, Holt Fieldhouse was rocking above 90 decibels on this alumni night and homecoming weekend. Fans brought signs and loud voices to help carry heaps of energy through the match.

Hurst logged 20 kills in the five-set effort and Ahsmuhs was right behind with 19. Dziczkowski also pitched in a phenomenal 15 kill night to help the Eagles to a 72 kill performance and a .245 hitting percentage. Ahsmuhs recorded 20 digs on the night as well, marking her fifth double-double in a row. Trinity Hafey was the next best with 19 digs. Blair Cherry was also on the double-double train, grabbing 51 assists to go along with 12 digs. Addie Smith also had 10 digs. It was a great serving game for the Eagles, who logged 11 total team service aces throughout the match, which marks a season high. Both Annie Dcizkowski and Blair Cherry led the effort with four aces each.

For Catawba, Lillie Kate Rogers led the charge with 14 kills and Sofia Beard was right behind with 11. The Catawba Indians had 17 errors for .182 attacking percentage. Riley Hill picked up 22 digs and Martina Foster served up three aces. Haley Moffett led the assist category for Catawba with 22.

Earlier this season, the Bulldogs swept the Eagles inside Holt Fieldhouse, grabbing the lead late in set one and never taking their foot off the gas to stay undefeated in the SAC and drop C-N to 2-2 in conference play.

"I was very pleased with how we came out," said head coach Cat Collins. "But [we] got pushed and pressured and we didn't handle it the way that we wanted to."

Wingate outkilled the Eagles 48-30 and hit .396 on the match. Ahsmuhs was the kill leader for the Eagles with nine, while Dziczkowski followed with eight. Trinity Hafey highlighted the defense with 16 digs while Hurst added four blocks. Five players for Wingate logged eight or more kills, while Van Heyst picked up 14 digs.

"We won't look the same when we get there later," Collins said.

The Catawba Indians and Eagles will celebrate the 77th all-time meeting on Saturday. Carson-Newman will look to creep closer to leveling the series, as Catawba leads 37-39. The matchup between Carson-Newman and Catawba dates back to 1989, when Carson-Newman lost the first all-time matchup in two sets. The Catawba Indians took a 9-1 lead and maintained a strong front through the 2000 season, and since C-N has been making strides at cutting into the Catawba lead.

The Eagles are 2-0 against Catawba in the Cat Collins era and won the last two matchups. Carson-Nemwan has won eight of the last ten matchups. The Eagles are 20-13 at home against Catawba, but 14-21 on the road and 3-5 in neutral-site games. Carson-Newman hasn't won a match in Salisbury since October 1, 2022. On the flip side, Carson-Newman hasn't given up a match at home to the Catawba Indians since October 1, 2016. That loss came in five sets.

Just about everyone in the SAC has had issues with Wingate in the conference's history. This matchup between the Eagles and Bulldogs will be the 75th all-time. The 'Dogs have a healthy handle on this series with a 57-16 lead and have won each of the last five matchups between the two. The previous time Carson-Newman beat the Bulldogs was in 2019 in the SAC Championship game.

In the last ten matchups between the two teams, Carson-Newman has only won two games. The battles between these teams have ended matches that took more than three sets to settle 39 times, but also include 34 sweeps. The Eagles' first matchup against the Bulldogs was back in 1992, where they took the victory in four sets.

Holt Fieldhouse hasn't necessarily been an advantage for the C-N either. The Eagles have only won one time in their home gymnasium dating back to 2009. The last time the Eagles won on the road was nearly 11 years ago to the day when C-N took a five-set victory over Wingate on the first day of November in 2014. If Carson-Newman came out with the victory, this would be just the 9th loss that Wingate coach Lauren Tecavec would add to her record in the three seasons she has been head coach.

Carson-Newman comes into the weekend toting two weekly award winners. The Tennessee Sports Writers Association has recognized Emerson Ahsmuhs as the state's Volleyball Player of the Week. She also received a nod on September 16.

The California native has been phenomenal all season, but in the last few games, she's taken it up a notch. In the two games this past week, Ahsmuhs logged double-doubles in each game with 20 kills and 16 digs in the victory over Mars Hill and 19 kills and 20 digs in the win over Catawba. The two games also marked the fifth game in a row with Ahsmuhs notched 10 or more kills and 10 or more digs, giving her five double-doubles straight. This also counts for her 10th and 11th double-doubles of the season.

Also, after a phenomenal week in the back row, Hafey earns her first SAC honor of her career as the WePlayed Defensive Player of the Week. Trinity Hafey was all over the floor in Carson-Newman volleyball's two wins over Mars Hill and Catawba. Over the two matches, the junior captain collected 40 total digs, including a 21-dig performance against the Lions. That marked the second time in her career that the libero has reached the 20+ dig mark. the Grand Junction, Colorado native put up a 5.00 digs per set clip, good for the best on the week in the SAC. What's more, she was nearly flawless on serve receive. On a team leading 41 receptions, Hafey made just one error for a .976 reception percentage throughout the week.

The first serve between the Bulldogs and Eagles is slated for 7:00 PM on Friday night, followed by a Saturday matinee matchup at 1:00 PM against Catawba.