'Splitters top Eagles in back-to-back duals
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – In the second and third meeting between the two teams this season, Carson-Newman fell to nearby rival Lincoln Memorial in Saturday’s doubleheader dual.
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – In the second and third meeting between the two teams this season, Carson-Newman fell to nearby rival Lincoln Memorial in Saturday's doubleheader dual.
The Eagles (0-9) did not see a win on the afternoon until the second dual of the day as Catherine Cook (Morristown, Tenn.) and Lexy Headley (Sharps Chapel, Tenn.) picked up their first win of the season as a pairing.
C-N has now lost the trio of matches against this 'Splitters (7-12) this 2018 sand season. The all-time record between the two teams moves to a 5-3 Lincoln Memorial lead with the Eagles falling in five consecutive matches.
Dual 1: LMU 5, C-N 0
Kelly Hughes (Woodbridge, Va.) and Summer Coulter (El Paso, Texas) suited up as the top-seeded pairing for the second time this season, this time facing Hailey Lake and Danielle Ged. In their first set, the Eagles duo lost 21-15 but came back reversing the score to 21-15. LMU's pair took the lead early on and the Eagles were unable to stop them, taking the match 15-5 in the third set.
At the number two spot sat Montgomery Sauter (Columbia, S.C.) and Aryana Fazelina (Weston, Fla.). The two lost in similar scoring matches 21-6, 21-7 to Abby Cash and Lindsay Nartker.
The pairing of Abby Struewing (Lebanon, Ohio) and Micah Depetro (Knoxville, Tenn.) looked promising at the beginning of its third-seeded matchup, but Lincoln Memorial's Rylee Storms and Erica Whiteaker went on a major offensive run to win the set 21-15. The second set was far from the first as Depetro and Struewing fell 21-9.
For the first time this season, Lauren Williams (Carrollton, Ga.) and Gabrielle Bailey (Pompano Beach, Fla.) teamed up at the No. 4 spot. This new pairing came just short of a first set win against Danielle Stachura and Kai Wesemann in a 21-19 despite their efforts. Lincoln Memorial's pair carried their momentum over into the second set and won 21-11.
The last duo included Cook and Headley. The number five pairing lost 21-16 in the first set but rallied back a win 21-7 in the second. Beka Wachob and Tone Gill brought it in the third set and won the match 15-4.
Dual 2: LMU 4, C-N 1
The same number one doubles pairs faced off for round two of the day. Hughes and Coulter were able to take down Ged and Lake 21-16 in the first set, but the Railsplitters pairing brought the heat in the second set, 21-10, to force the tiebreaker. The third set provided a close fight, but Ged and Lake came out on top with a 15-12 win.
Sauter and Fazelina fell at the No. 2 spot for the second time in the day as Cash and Nartker defeated them in consecutive sets 21-11, 21-12.
Storms and Whiteaker obliterated C-N's Struewing and Depetro in the No. 3 face-off with sequential sets of 21-9, 21-5.
Another new pairing at the five-seed, Grace Seymour (Hudson, Fla.) and Bailey also lost quickly in 21-12 and 21-10 sets as Stachura and Wiseman went on long offensive runs that brought them to the top.
Cook and Headly were the only win of the day for the Orange and Blue. They defeated Kayla Kidney and Sarah Jones in three, tie-breaking sets. The LMU side won the first set 21-14, but C-N's duo dominated the second, 21-5. The momentum stayed on the side of the Eagles heading into the third set when Cook and Headley won 15-8.
Head coach Kody DuBarry's now prepares for its second of three-straight weekends of competition as the team heads to Clarksville, Tenn. for the Ohio Valley Challenge. The Eagles will play in four matches through two days of competition from Friday to Saturday.
