November 23, 2015

Prancing to the Palmetto State: Eagles are in the NCAA Championships

INDIANAPOLIS – Marking its sixth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history Carson-Newman is the No. 4 seed in the Southeast Region earning an at-large bid to play against No. 5 seed Armstrong State on Friday, Dec. 4th in Aiken, S.C.

Carson-Newman Volleyball NCAA Tournament History

INDIANAPOLIS – Marking its sixth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history Carson-Newman is the No. 4 seed in the Southeast Region earning an at-large bid to play against No. 5 seed Armstrong State on Friday, Dec. 4^th in Aiken, S.C.

"Unbelievably blessed," Carson-Newman coach Dan Ahiers said. "These girls have worked hard for two years in-a-row. They have worked unbelievably hard. They set a real high standard for themselves and won a bunch of games this year. The best part of the whole season is making the NCAA Tournament. Everybody is 0-0. You have to win the first one to win the second one. You win six in-a-row and you are national champions."

The Eagles are making their second consecutive appearance in the postseason after earning the first sweep in NCAA Tournament play against USC Aiken on Nov. 20 before bowing out against Armstrong State in straight sets. Carson-Newman is 3-5 all-time in since first appearing in 2002.

The 2015 opening round match is a rematch of the 2014 Southeast Region semifinal and will mark the sixth all-time meeting between the two programs. Carson-Newman's lone win in that time came on Sept. 13, 2008 in four sets. The Eagles were led by Carly Mozgai's 14 kills and 13 digs in that contest.

Carson-Newman finished the South Atlantic Conference regular season in second and lost to eventual tournament champion Lenoir-Rhyne in the tournament semifinals.

The Eagles played eight games against the NCAA Tournament field and have a 3-5 record in those games.

The Eagles are led by three postseason first-team All-SAC honorees. Senior outside hitter Molly Locke (College Grove, Tenn.) became the first player in program history to record two matches with 20 kills and 20 digs in the same contest on Friday against Anderson (S.C.). In her first season at Mossy Creek, Locke won more Player of the Week plaudits than anyone else in the league.

Senior outside hitter Sara Fairley (Charlotte, N.C.) is a two-time SAC Player of the Week and became the first volleyball player in program history to be named CoSIDA Academic All-District. Junior middle blocker Maddie Borch (Walnut Creek, Calif.) was named to the SAC All-Tournament team and currently ranks second in program history for hitting percentage in a season with a .351 mark.

"It's so exciting being back in the NCAA Tournament after making it last year as a junior," Fairley said. "We are beyond excited as a team and for the opportunity. We played [Armstrong] last year so that gives us a leg up. We can take what we learned from last time and do better."

Armstrong is making its eighth straight NCAA Tournament appearance and 13^th overall. The Pirates have advanced to the Southeast Region title game in each of the last two seasons and became the first Peach Belt school to win the Southeast Region in 2008.

The Pirates are 18-10 this season and have a 3-5 record against teams in the field. Armstrong is 1-2 against SAC schools with a win against Brevard and losses to Lincoln Memorial and Tusculum.

Ahiers has made back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Tournament in his first two seasons as coach after the program made it to the postseason just four times in the first 25 years.

The winner of the Carson-Newman versus Armstrong game will play against the winner of top-seeded USC Aiken and eighth-seeded Erskine. The bottom of the bracket has second-seeded Flagler versus seventh-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne and third-seeded Wingate against sixth-seeded Lander.

The times have not yet been set as the games will be played December 4-6 at the Convocation Center in Aiken, S.C. Follow @CNathletics on Twitter for the latest updates on times and other information regarding the tournament.

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