September 30, 2016

Comeback bid falls short as Royals top Eagles

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – After falling behind 0-2, Carson-Newman won the third set and held a late lead in the fourth set before falling to Queens 17-25, 15-25, 25-23 and 22-25 in South Atlantic Conference play Friday evening at Holt Fieldhouse.

Queens (N.C.)

9-3, 6-1 SAC

Carson-Newman

1-11, 1-7 SAC

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Queens (N.C.) 9-3, 6-1 SAC	25	25	23	25	3
Carson-Newman 1-11, 1-7 SAC	17	15	25	22	1

VIDEO: Dave Franklin Interview

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – After falling behind 0-2, Carson-Newman won the third set and held a late lead in the fourth set before falling to Queens 17-25, 15-25, 25-23 and 22-25 in South Atlantic Conference play Friday evening at Holt Fieldhouse.

"We were doing well from the service line," Carson-Newman coach Dave Franklin said. "They were out of system. We get roll shots and then we are not in the right position defensively. We get good sets and then we don't kill them. It's just poor execution and these are the results you are going to get with that."

Queens (9-3, 6-1) put a halt to a four-match losing streak to Carson-Newman (1-11, 1-7) and has won eight of its last nine matches while the Eagles have lost seven in-a-row.

The Eagles committed eight attack errors in the opening set and hit -.071 despite five rejections. The home team had a 9-7 lead before a Queens spurt of 8-0 gave the Royals a six-point lead. C-N closed the gap to four points before a 6-2 sequence gave the visitors separation to close out the set.

With the two squads tied at four points, Queens won seven of the next nine rallies to push the lead to five points. The Eagles closed to within four points at 14-10 before another 5-1 sequence gave the Royals a cushion to solidify a 2-0 advantage in the match.

Carson-Newman started the third set winning eight of the first 10 points. Queens began the comeback trail fighting all the way back to tie the score at 18 and take a 19-18 edge. With the Royals ahead 22-21, C-N reeled off three straight and an attack error by Mallory Swarts gave the third set to the Eagles.

Queens won seven of the first 10 rallies of the fourth set before C-N won four straight to equalize. The score would be tied eight more times with the last being at 21. The Royals won four of the final five points to seal the match victory.

On the evening, the Eagles hit .060 with 74 digs, seven blocks and six service errors compared to a .222 hitting percentage, 75 digs, 13 blocks and six service aces for the Royals.

A pair of C-N athletes notched 10 kills as freshman outside hitters Abbie McFarlane (McKinney, Texas) and Marnie Streeter (Goldvein, Va.) led the offensive effort.

Junior setter Anna Patton (Franklin, Tenn.) piled up a double-double for the third straight match recording 27 assists and 13 digs.

Senior setter Taylor Lowe (Franklin, Tenn.) a match-high and a season-high 29 digs.

Meredith Jones led all players with 19 kills to go along with 17 digs. Rebecca Cochran and Jessica Raines each had 11 kills while Cochran piled up 12 digs. Sydney Kunz was the third member of the visiting side with a double-double as she finished with 40 assists and 11 digs.

Carson-Newman welcomes Catawba to Holt Fieldhouse Saturday at 5 p.m. for another league match. The Eagle Sports Network has the broadcast coverage on cneagles.com/live against the Indians.

- CN -