September 22, 2014

Ascending Eagles welcome Lions to Mossy Creek

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – A 7:00 p.m. Tuesday night affair at Holt Fieldhouse against the Mars Hill Lions (2-8, 1-2 South Atlantic Conference) has the Carson-Newman Eagles (7-3, 3-0 SAC) aiming for a fourth straight sweep.

Mars Hill

2-9 (1-3 SAC)

Carson-Newman

8-3 (4-0 SAC)

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Mars Hill 2-9 (1-3 SAC)	18	25	18	20	1
Carson-Newman 8-3 (4-0 SAC)	25	14	25	25	3

Carson-Newman Volleyball Match Notes

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – A 7:00 p.m. Tuesday night affair at Holt Fieldhouse against the Mars Hill Lions (2-8, 1-2 South Atlantic Conference) has the Carson-Newman Eagles (7-3, 3-0 SAC) aiming for a fourth straight sweep.

The 2014 version of the Eagle volleyball team has done something no other team has ever done in program history, win the first three conference matches of the season in straight sets. The 2002 team is the only squad that rivals this year's unit. That club won 12 of its first 13 sets and began the year with nine wins to start the year in SAC play en route to a 13-1 league record and a conference championship.

This year's team has staked claim on an impressive defensive start. Opponents are hitting just .140 against Carson-Newman this year. Eight of the ten teams the Eagles have played tallied an attack percentage under .200 including each of the last six teams.

On Saturday, the Catawba Indians were held to a -.012 attack percentage marking the first time since September 24, 2011 that an opponent was held to a negative percentage when the Newberry Wolves mustered a -.010 attack percentage.

Sophomore libero Taylor Lowe (Franklin, Tenn.) has hit the ground running in her second season in Mossy Creek. Lowe has racked up double figures in each match this season and is averaging 4.32 digs per set, sixth-best in the conference.

Carson-Newman leads the all-time series against Mars Hill 32-20, but the two sides earned sweep victories in 2013 on their respective home floors. The Eagles hit a high percentage in each match, .245 in the home win and .286 in the road loss.

Mars Hill enters the match as the lone team in the league under a .100 attack percentage as the Lions are hitting .094 as a team this season. The Lions are led by preseason second team All-SAC selection MaryKate Griffin who is averaging 2.38 kills per set this season.

The contest can be viewed in high definition Tuesday evening by visiting cneagles.com/live where live statistics can also be found.

- CN -