March 3, 2022

Sand Eagles saunter to St. Andrews and Salisbury for quartet of matches

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - The Carson-Newman beach volleyball team embarks on their longest road trip of the season so far, heading to North Carolina for four matches over a two-day span.

The Eagles will first head to Laurinburg, N.C. for a pair of matches against Stevenson and the host St. Andrews Knights on Friday, Mar. 4, before making the trek to Salisbury to face Catawba in a doubleheader on Saturday, Mar. 5.

Carson-Newman is coming off their first two losses of the season, falling to Tusculum 5-0 and Chattanooga 4-1 last week at the Tusculum Pioneer Tournament. The Eagles did pick up a win at the tournament, knocking off Division-I Eastern Kentucky 4-1. The pair of Lindsey Geurin and Taylor Keeran went 2-1 on the weekend, moving their season record to 4-1 together.

Geurin sits just three wins away from tying Abbey Struewing for most career victories. The senior out of Clearwater Beach, Fla. sits tied for second with a 19-11 career record. With just one win this weekend, Geurin would be the second Carson-Newman beach volleyball player in program history to win 20 games.

Mia Toribio is right behind her teammate with 18 career victories. Toribio has gone 3-2 this season at the number one position with Sierra Still.

Carson-Newman and Stevenson are well acquainted as beach volleyball programs as this weekend will be the tenth meeting between the two squads. The Mustangs lead the overall series 5-4, but the Eagles won the last meeting on Feb. 29, 2020 in Ft. Wayne, Ind. by a score of 3-2. After going down 2-1, the pairs of Abbey Struewing and Toribio and of Morgan Siwiec and Joy Rhodes came back to win the match for the Eagles. The win broke a five match losing streak to the Mustangs, who themselves had broken a three match winning streak in the series by the Eagles. The two squads will be meeting in the fifth different state, facing each other at tournaments in Indiana and Florida and both squads hosting each other in Maryland and Tennessee so far in the series.

Stevenson enters the weekend at 2-2. The Mustangs defeated Catawba twice 4-1 and 4-0 at the UNC Wilmington tournament last weekend before falling to the host Seahawks twice in a pair of sweeps. The Mustangs number one pair of Emily Pellini and Shannon Baily are 2-2 on the season.

The Mustangs are coached by Dave Trumbo, who is in his seventh season. Stevenson was the first Division-III beach volleyball program, and have been very successful, finishing second at the first ever AVCA Small College Championships in 2019.

St. Andrews is in their second season of beach volleyball and have already shown improvement as a program. After going 1-12 in 2020, the Knights enter the weekend 3-9-1, earning a 2-2 draw against Catawba due to darkness and a 3-2 victory over Warner who were at the time ranked #15 in the NAIA national polls.

Carson-Newman hosted St. Andrews for their senior day doubleheader last season on Mar. 31, 2020. The Eagles pulled off a pair of sweeps and didn't drop a single set to the Knights in the rainy day victories. The two will meet again for the 2022 Carson-Newman beach volleyball senior day in Mossy Creek, oddly enough also on Mar. 31. The Knights are coached by Tessa Smith in her second season.

Catawba College is also in their second season of beach volleyball. The Indians enter the weekend at 1-4-1 overall and on a four match losing streak. The Indians lone win was a 4-1 victory over St. Andrews on Feb. 22. The pair of Dara Kane and Raytchelle Miranda have played just two matches this season, but have won both at the number one position.

The Eagles met Catawba twice last season, both times in postseason play. Catawba took the victory at the AVCA Small College Championships in Tavares, Fla. 3-2 before knocking off the Eagles in their last trip to Salisbury for the SAC Beach Challenge, also a 3-2 victory for the Indians. Catawba is coached by interim head coach Elena Turnbull.

The match against Stevenson begins at 9:00 AM on Friday, Mar. 4, with the match against St. Andrews following right after. The Eagles matchup against Catawba will begin on Saturday, Mar. 5 at 10:00 AM with the second match to follow. Fans can follow along with news and updates on the Carson-Newman beach volleyball team at cneagles.com