Harper’s career high leads Lady Eagles past Lenoir-Rhyne in five
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Freshman Rachel Harper had a career-high 19 kills and senior Carly Swisher matched her with 19 more as the Carson-Newman Lady Eagles beat visiting Lenoir-Rhyne, 3-2, on Friday night in Jefferson City.
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Freshman Rachel Harper had a career-high 19 kills and senior Carly Swisher matched her with 19 more as the Carson-Newman Lady Eagles beat visiting Lenoir-Rhyne, 3-2, on Friday night in Jefferson City. Carson-Newman won 25-16, 20-25, 25-21, 24-26, 15-9 to improve to 16-13 on the year and 6-11 in South Atlantic Conference play. L-R falls to 17-13 overall and 8-9 in SAC play. Harper's career high 19 kills came on the heel s of her hitting .300 on the night and sparking the Lady Eagle offense. Swisher grew strong as the match wore on, hitting .357 with her 19 kills in 42 attacks. The two teams alternated set wins on the evening. L-R rallied from a five-point deficit in the fourth set to force a fifth and final frame, but Harper carried the Lady Eagles in the fifth. The freshman had four kills, including three of C-N's final four points of the match to seal the win. She also was second on the team with 15 digs. Libero Angelle Hayes, who is back in the lineup after missing much of the season, led all players with 30 digs. Junior Chelsea Hill led a balanced Lenoir-Rhyne attack. Hill had 11 kills and hit .348. Freshman Haley Rhyne and Whitney Brinkley each added 10 kills. Freshman Emily Culler had 18 digs to lead the Bears and junior Meredith Lutz had a team-high 22 digs. C-N senior Nikki James led all players with five blocks, all solo. C-N's Kristen Pickett had a career high 57 assists for the Lady Eagles as C-N reached five sets for the fifth time this season. Carson-Newman returns to action on Saturday afternoon at 5 p.m. against Brevard. -C-N-
