Carson-Newman volleyball falls to rival Railsplitters in three sets
HARROGATE, Tenn. – A staunch Lincoln Memorial (14-7, 6-1 SAC) attack led the Railsplitters to a 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-18) victory over Carson-Newman (8-8, 2-5 SAC) Tuesday night at Mars Gym.
HARROGATE, Tenn. – A staunch Lincoln Memorial (14-7, 6-1 SAC) attack led the Railsplitters to a 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-18) victory over Carson-Newman (8-8, 2-5 SAC) Tuesday night at Mars Gym.
The Railsplitters wailed away, hitting .283 for the match with Blair Fowler leading the charge with a match-high 11 kills and a .333 hit percentage.
"Our dig to kill ratio just wasn't very high," Carson-Newman head volleyball coach Shannon Mincey said. "We were getting our points off of out of system kills."
Sabina Papala (Laziska Gorne, Poland) paced Carson-Newman for the second time this season with 10 kills on 25 swings – a season high.
"She was one of the few players that LMU had a hard time defending," Mincey said. "We should have given her even more opportunities, but sometimes the ball was too far off the net to make that a possibility."
The loss to LMU snaps a four-match winning streak for the Eagles. The Eagles hit .176 for the match to go along with six team blocks. C-N outblocked LMU six to four and a half. It was the second time that the Eagles outblocked the opposition and lost.
The Eagles only hit two service aces, something Mincey said came from the Eagles' mindset.
"We weren't serving aggressively," Mincey said. "It's something we have to work on practice to get more aggressive before Wingate and Catawba."
Mincey said the Eagles need better numbers from the pins. Rachel Harper (Chattanooga, Tenn.) finished with nine kills while Lauren Santarelli (Colorado Springs, Colo.) had six.
"We need to get more offense out of our outside. Their offensive rhythm was stronger than ours. I hope Santarelli uses this match to fuel her fire for Wingate and Catawba. We need better transition from Kristen Pickett (Cleveland, Tenn.) to her."
Carson-Newman is halfway through a six-game road trip. The Eagles continue to fly away from Holt Fieldhouse with matches Friday and Saturday against Catawba and Wingate, respectively.
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