C-N falls to two D-I schools to wrap up to Clarksville
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn.— Carson-Newman wrapped up day two of a tournament at Austin Peay State University with losses to No. 16 Georgia State University and Eastern Kentucky University.
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn.— Carson-Newman wrapped up day two of a tournament at Austin Peay State University with losses to No. 16 Georgia State University and Eastern Kentucky University.
"We are a smaller school, playing against bigger schools, but it is an opportunity to push ourselves," Director of Beach Volleyball Dave Franklin said. "I thought we took advantage of those opportunities today. We still have cultural things to grow, but our intentions are there."
Georgia State (18-11) swept the Eagles in their first match of the day. C-N took one game off of Eastern Kentucky (2-13), but still lost 4-1.
Summer Coulter and Abby Struewing brought the Eagles their only win of the weekend at the No. 1 seed. The Eagles tandem won in consecutive sets over the Colonels top pair.
"Summer and Abby are very consistent and control the ball very well. They bring it from the service line and were able to keep the pressure on them the whole time," Franklin said.
Match 1: GSU 5, C-N 0
Taryn Nichols and Dilyn Palmer faced a hard loss at the No. 5 seed. They lost the first set 21-12 to Anna Rantala and Kaylee McClure. The Eagles regressed in the second set to fall 21-2.
Mattie Johnson and Becky Tresham beat Montgomery Sauter and Lexy Headly at the No. 4 spot in back-to-back sets 21-10, 21-12.
At the No. 3 flight, Grace Seymour and Lauren Williams were crushed by Brooke Weiner and Kate Novack in sequential sets 21-8, 21-7 giving Georgia State the win.
Aryana Fazlenia and Kelly Hughes competed at the No. 3 position. The C-N tandem lost the first set in quick fashion 21-9. Ashley Bauchert and Georgia Johnson pushed through the second set to win the face-up 21-16.
The top-seeded fight of Abby Struewing and Summer Coulter lost to Eden Hawes and Maddy Delmonte in two sets 21-11, 21-10.
Match 2: EKU 4, C-N 1
Nichols and Palmer appeared for the second time during the day at the No. 5 spot. They lost the first set 21-7 to Clarissa Hankinson and Mikayla Logan. The Eagles brought a fight to the second set, but lost by two, 21-19.
At the No. 4 position, Sauter and Headly brought the heat throughout every set. Rachel Woody and Kennedy Wilson won the first set 21-18, but the Eagles pair came back with a 21-14 win to force a third set. The third set resulted in a 15-13 finish in favor of the Colonels.
Seymour and Williams took the first set at the No. 3 flight with a 21-18 win over Maria Ferragonio and Kaylin Johnson. The Colonel's duo came back with a 21-10 defeat to carry the game into a third set where they finished the Eagles off 15-12. This gave the Colonels the win over C-N.
The No. 2 pairing of Aryana Fazlenia and Kelly Hughes lost the first set in a close 21-19 dual. The Eagles mentally recharged to win the second set with a flip-flopped score of 21-19. Sydney Schoen and K. Caserma-Kloeble won the final set 15-10 to close out the dual.
Coulter and Struewing dominated at the No. 1 seed, defeating Dena Tekavec and Jovana Bulatovic. The Eagles group won in two sets 21-10, 21-14.
"We must service receive more consistently going into next weekend. We need to focus on our mechanics and make sure we are executing our offensive shots," Franklin said.
The Eagles will compete next weekend in Taverns, Fla. for the Small College Championships to wrap up the year.
