Volleyball falls for second straight game at Anderson
September 21, 2013

Volleyball falls for second straight game at Anderson

ANDERSON, S.C. – The Anderson Trojans (3-5, 3-1) defeated the Carson-Newman Eagles (6-5, 1-3) 27-25, 25-17 and 25-18 Saturday afternoon at the Abney Center.

ANDERSON, S.C. – The Anderson Trojans (3-5, 3-1) defeated the Carson-Newman Eagles (6-5, 1-3) 27-25, 25-17 and 25-18 Saturday afternoon at the Abney Center.

"Our team carried the Friday night loss into the gym Saturday," head coach Shannon Mincey said. "We didn't recover quick enough to play as ourselves. The Anderson game was very slow and we fell into the lull of it."

In a hotly contested opening set, neither side led by more than two points. Carson-Newman fought off a set point, but dropped the final two rallies that saw the Trojans hold on for the game one victory.

Junior outside hitter Rachel Harper (Chattanooga, Tenn.) delivered five kills. Sophomore Kiayna O'Neal (Katy, Texas) and senior Emily Schultz (Atlanta, Ga.) chipped in three kills each in the initial stanza. Junior setter Kristen Pickett (Cleveland, Tenn.) handed out ten assists.

Anderson surged out to an 8-3 lead in the second set before the Eagles cut the deficit to 13-10. It would be the closest the visiting school would get as the Trojans won seven of the final ten points to take the second stanza.

Junior outside hitter Lauren Santarelli (Colorado Springs, Colo.) led the team with four kills and five digs while O'Neal added three kills.

With the score tied at five in third game, Anderson reeled off nine of ten points to gain control of the match. The Trojans cranked out 19 kills in the set on a .378 hitting percentage.

Harper and O'Neal each recorded three kills in the set with Harper adding a pair of service aces.

"I saw some fire out of my team in the third set, but it seemed too late to be productive," Mincey said. " We will use this week off to traing and prepare for Wingate and Coker."

Carson-Newman tallied 56 total digs with Santarelli and freshman libero Taylor Lowe (Franklin, Tenn.) each recording ten.

Harper finished with ten kills and five digs. O'Neal hit .444 as she had nine kills. Santarelli chipped in seven kills while Schultz had five.

Anderson hit .272 and had three players finish with double-digit kills and four athletes recorded double-digit digs. Shannon Gillespie and Kelley Lacey had double-doubles for the Trojans.

The Eagles continue their road trip Friday at Wingate with first serve slated for 7 p.m. For additional coverage, follow @CNathletics on Twitter or visit cneagles.com.

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