Eagles, 'Splitters gear up for doubleheader
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – For the second time this season, Carson-Newman gears up to face Lincoln Memorial this time in a doubleheader dual on Saturday afternoon at the C-N Sand Courts.
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – For the second time this season, Carson-Newman gears up to face Lincoln Memorial this time in a doubleheader dual on Saturday afternoon at the C-N Sand Courts.
Saturday's dual will serve as the second and third head-to-head match between the two teams this season.
The Eagles (0-7) come into the match following a winless outing at the Dig & Dive Invitational hosted by UNC Wilmington at the end of March. Head coach Kody DuBarry's team was shutout in each of the four duals it took part in at the event, facing UNCW, North Florida, Webber International and Missouri Baptist.
C-N has not seen a non-shutout match since the opening day of its own two-day tournament on March 23 when the Eagles lost to Huntingdon 4-1.
The only two C-N pairings to see victories this season have been Gabrielle Bailey (Pompano Beach, Fla.) and Micah Palmer (White Pine, Tenn.) at the No. 5 spot against LMU and Montgomery Sauter (Columbia, S.C.) and Aryana Fazelnia (Weston, Fla.) as the No. 3 duo against Huntingdon.
Lincoln Memorial (5-12) comes into Saturday just days removed from its outing at the AVCA Small College Championship where the Railsplitters lost all five of the duals they participated in.
Head coach Jenny Michael's crew has not won a match since March 27 when they defeated Florida Southern in a 4-1 decision in Lakeland, Fla.
Abby Cash and Lindsey Nartker lead the team with the only winning record among all the pairs LMU has used this season at 10-7. They currently hold a two-match winning streak, going 6-5 at the top spot. The second most relied upon tandem has been Danielle Ged and Hailey Lake, also pairing up for 17 matches. They have not been as successful as of late as the pair has endured an 11 match losing skid. They are 5-12 overall, 4-7 at the No. 2 position.
The last time the two teams faced each other in the season-opener saw LMU walk away with a 4-1 win. Bailey and Palmer put the Eagles up early with a 1-0 lead thanks to two-consecutive 21-16 set wins over Tone Gill and Danielle Stachura, but that was the only lead the Eagles saw on the day as LMU took the remaining four matches.
Lincoln Memorial leads the series 4-3 and has won four-straight over the Eagles since April 8, 2017.
Saturday's first match will begin at noon for the two teams at the C-N Sand Courts with the second following after that. A full recap and results will be available on cneagles.com at the conclusion of the contest.
