A trio of challenges loom for Eagles at Holt Fieldhouse
October 22, 2015

A trio of challenges loom for Eagles at Holt Fieldhouse

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – A three-match weekend for the Carson-Newman Eagles (18-3, 12-1 South Atlantic Conference) brings the Catawba Indians (11-9, 8-5 SAC), the Queens (N.C.) Royals (7-11, 5-8 SAC) and the Columbus State Cougars (2-19) to Holt Fieldhouse Friday and Saturday. The Catawba match is set for 7 p.m. Friday with the Queens and Columbus St. contests slated for 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Saturday.

VIDEO: Kirby Toribio Interview

Carson-Newman Volleyball Match Notes

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – A three-match weekend for the Carson-Newman Eagles (18-3, 12-1 South Atlantic Conference) brings the Catawba Indians (11-9, 8-5 SAC), the Queens (N.C.) Royals (7-11, 5-8 SAC) and the Columbus State Cougars (2-19) to Holt Fieldhouse Friday and Saturday. The Catawba match is set for 7 p.m. Friday with the Queens and Columbus St. contests slated for 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Saturday.

"I think everyone is excited to be back home to have our home crowd back cheering us on," Carson-Newman assistant coach Kirby Toribio said. "When we are on the road we have a lot of support so we are so thankful for that. We are excited to be home with that support."

Carson-Newman has won four straight matches by way of a sweep chasing the overall record for straight sweeps. The overall record for sweeps in consecutive matches came in nonconference action in 2007 when the Eagles won six straight. Carson-Newman won its first three SAC matches this season by way of a sweep marking the third time that has happened in school history, 2014 and 2003 are the other years it occurred.

Opponents are hitting .139 this season against Carson-Newman this season which is on pace for the lowest opponent attack percentage in a season by a Carson-Newman team since 2000. In 2014, teams hit .154 versus the Eagles which is the current record-low.

SAC teams are hitting just .109 against the Eagles on the year. It would be the lowest opponent hitting percentage in conference action since Wingate held foes to a .095 percentage in 2013.

Team No. 27 has a winning percentage of .857 which would be the highest winning percentage in the school's 27 years of volleyball action. The previous high was set in 2002 when Perry Robinson's team notched an .816 and tied for the regular season SAC title with a 31-7 overall record and 13-1 mark in the league play.

This weekend Carson-Newman volleyball will hold its annual Dig Pink weekend. The team will be selling Dig Pink t-shirts and have a jewelry stand to raise money for donations. Each member of the team has also asked sponsors to donate money for each kill or dig they record throughout the three matches as part of the fundraiser.

"We will have lot of pink," Toribio said. "We will be all decked out and we will decorate our gym. It will be a fun event. It's just been fun to do our part and come together for our event this weekend."

Carson-Newman has won five straight meeting with Catawba to close the gap in the all-time series to 32-25 in favor of the Indians. The Eagles controlled the first meeting this year in Salisbury, N.C. winning 25-19, 25-17 and 25-16. Senior outside hitter Sara Fairley (Charlotte, N.C.) was the lone player in the match to record double-digit kills as she racked up a then-career-high 16 kills to go along with 11 digs for her third double-double of the season. Fairley has eclipsed that mark four times since the September 18 meeting. Catawba was led by 21 assists and 15 digs from Kaytee Frabotta and eight kills from Erin Morant.

The Indians have won three straight matches with each one coming in three sets. In their most recent contest against Anderson last Saturday Ginger Hamric won her 500th match at Catawba in her 26th season.

Catawba has played 10 of its previous 12 matches at home and will end the year with seven of nine contests on the road.

Junior middle blocker Erin Morant is the conference leading in attack percentage this year at .333 as she leads the team with 165 kills and 0.90 blocks per set.

The Eagles take on the Royals for the eighth time with Carson-Newman holding a 5-2 edge including a four-set victory in Charlotte on September 19. Carson-Newman needed four sets on September 19 winning 23-25, 26-24, 25-16 and 25-23. Overall, the Eagles hit .220 compared to .116 from the Royals with the two sides even with six service aces and Queens holding an eight to seven edge in blocks. Sophomore setter Anna Patton (Franklin, Tenn.) filled the stat sheet with her second double-double of the season finishing with 39 assists and 20 digs coupled with four kills and three block assists.

The Royals have won three of their last four matches after a four-match losing streak falling in five sets to Tusculum and in four sets to Coker and Wingate.

Queens is tops in the conference in blocks per set averaging 2.39 per frame just higher than Catawba's 2.09 clip. The Royals are 17th in the nation in that category with Taylor Henry leading the league and ranking 26th nationally with 1.21 blocks per set.

Serving has also been an advantage for Queens this season ranking 40th in the country with 131 service aces. Meredith Jones and Annika Jones are in the top-10 in the SAC.

"Catawba has won a lot of matches lately," Toribio said. "Queens has some of the best hitters that we have seen in conference so when they are in system, they are a dangerous team. The good news is that we have been doing well defensively."

Saturday evening marks the first meeting between Carson-Newman and Columbus St. as the Cougars and Eagles have six common opponents with Columbus St. falling in each of those outings.

The Cougars have lost nine consecutive matches having won just five sets in that span and suffering five sweeps having won a total of 14 sets in 21 total matches in 2015.

Columbus St. has struggled to find the ground this season piling up a .100 attack percentage ranking 266th out of 282 teams in the nation in that category. Conversely opponents are hitting .228, the 24th-highest margin at the Division II level.

Each match this weekend will be broadcast in high definition by visiting cneagles.com/live throughout the weekend courtesy of the Eagle Sports Network.

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