SAC tabs Patton as Specialist of the Week
ROCK HILL, S.C. – Sophomore setter Anna Patton (Franklin, Tenn.) became the seventh Carson-Newman player since the beginning of the 2014 season to earn a weekly honor from the South Atlantic Conference. The league announced Tuesday that Patton was tabbed as the Specialist of the Week.
ROCK HILL, S.C. – Sophomore setter Anna Patton (Franklin, Tenn.) became the seventh Carson-Newman player since the beginning of the 2014 season to earn a weekly honor from the South Atlantic Conference. The league announced Tuesday that Patton was tabbed as the Specialist of the Week.
"We are doing really well as a team," Patton said. "We have a lot of individual talent and it's all showing through and I think it just says that we are really competitive and we are here to compete and we are here to win."
Patton piled up 144 assists and 40 digs over four matches last week in aiding the Eagles to a 3-1 record averaging 11.08 assists per set and 3.08 digs per frame in that span.
The week began with the fourth consecutive match for Patton with a double-double as she racked up 40 assists and 15 digs in a sweep of Tusculum.
The double-doubles kept rolling in as Patton picked up 36 assists and 12 digs in a four-set victory over of Augusta to go along with three block assists.
The marquee outing for Patton during the week came in a sweep at Lander on Saturday as she tallied 51 assists and six digs. The 51 assists in a three-set match are the second-most by a Division II player this season and the most assists by Carson-Newman player in a three-set contest since Sherry Trimble's 52 helpers versus King (Tenn.) on September 26, 2002 in Jefferson City.
"I think what was working so well was that our serve receive was having really good passes so it was easy to get my sets to the middle," Patton said. "[Maddie Borch] and Natalie [Harris] were slamming the balls. Another thing that was working well was that our defense was really on point and were covering really well. They made it really easy to get good sets."
Overall this year, Patton has recorded seven double-doubles while recording 40 or more assists six times. Her 10.14 assists per set this year led the conference and rank 50th in the nation.
The Eagles as a unit are second in the league with a .203 attack percentage on the year and in the top-50 in the nation in kills per set in Patton's first year as the setter for Carson-Newman.
The honor is the first for Patton in her career as she joins two-time Player of the Week Molly Locke (College Grove, Tenn.) and September 22 Player of the Week Sara Fairley (Charlotte, N.C.) as the Eagles to win a weekly award in 2015.
Through six weeks there has not been a repeat winner of the Specialist of the Week plaudit.
Carson-Newman travels to Lenoir-Rhyne Friday night for a 7 p.m. first serve in the Tar Heel State as the Eagles look to continue their 14-match road SAC winning streak.
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