September 7, 2018

Barton bulldozes ineffective Eagles in four frames

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Growing its losing skid to three matches, Carson-Newman saw an early bulge fade away as Barton battled back to take a four-set victory 21-25, 26-24, 25-16 and 25-16 Friday evening at Christenberry Fieldhouse.

Barton

3-9

Carson-Newman

3-3

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Barton 3-9	21	26	25	25	3
Carson-Newman 3-3	25	24	16	16	1

Box Score

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Growing its losing skid to three matches, Carson-Newman saw an early bulge fade away as Barton battled back to take a four-set victory 21-25, 26-24, 25-16 and 25-16 Friday evening at Christenberry Fieldhouse.

"Really tough day on the scoreboard for our team, but I am super proud of the girls' effort and competiveness," Carson-Newman coach Dave Franklin said. "Our bench was awesome today displaying selflessness all day supporting their teammates. We have some statistical standards that we must learn to change the scoreboard in our favor. I have no doubts that this group will give all they have to get better. It's a long season and I look forward to watching our team grow and grow."

Only once in five prior matches had the Bulldogs taken a set off of Carson-Newman (3-3) as Barton (3-9) wins a match for the first time in six tries.

Usually error prone in the early portion of the year, Barton held true to its .085 attack percentage on the season as it made as many errors as it had kills in the first with 11. It was tied at 15 as the Eagles slowly expanded their lead and sealing a first-set victory on a miscue from Kaytlin Elkins.

Countering the first set was a second stanza that featured each school hitting above .200 in the second. The score was tied nine times but the Eagles held a 20-16 in the late goings of the game. It was cut to two at 23-21 when a kill and a service ace deadlocked the tally. A kill from Katie Parnell (Atlanta, Ga.) gave the Eagles set point but Barton won the final three rallies to knot the match at one.

Holding C-N to a minus-.071 hitting clip in the third set, Barton cruised. The two sides traded the first six rallies before the Bulldogs won six of the next seven to grow the swell that reached as many as 10 points during the game. The ninth erratic swing of the set made put the Eagles in a 2-1 hole.

Once again in the fourth frame, the Eagles attack proved to be inefficient with four errors and just six kills. The score was tied twice but C-N never held a lead as Barton broke a 7-7 tie with 10 of the next 12 points to gain a lead that was insurmountable. A kill by Angelica Acevedo ended the match.

Summing up the match, Carson-Newman hit .061 on 35 kills with 70 digs, five aces and 10 blocks while Barton countered with 45 kills and a .115 mark, 68 scoops, six aces and 10 blocks.

Setting a new career high, Joy Rhodes (Youngsville, N.C.) led C-N with 14 kills while taking 60 swings to go along with nine digs. Abbie McFarlane (McKinney, Texas) notched nine kills but made 10 attack errors with six scoops.

Utilizing three setters in the match, Taylor Rohr (Windsor, Colo.) was the only one to reach double figures in assists with 18 and nine digs. Morgan Ballard (Weaverville, N.C.) added 23 digs from the back row.

Chalking up a match-high 15 kills, Elkins added a team-high 13 digs for a double-double to lead the Barton offense. Peyton Kendall, Sarah Kirk and Haley Headley added seven smashes apiece. Kirk added 17 assists and 11 digs.

Kelsey Riquelme tallied nine block assists. Four players finished in double digits in digs Brittany Silance joined Elkins with a team-leading 13 while Acevedo led all players with 20 assists coupled with nine digs.

Saturday concludes non-conference play for the Eagles as they take on Augusta at 2 p.m. Video and live stats are available through the media relations team at Augusta with updates provided on Twitter by following @CNathletics.

- CN -