Eagles volleyball dominates in their season-opening games
September 5, 2025

Eagles volleyball dominates in their season-opening games

Carson-Newman Volleyball opened the season this afternoon with two games at the Glenville State tournament, sweeping both Chowan and West Virginia Wesleyan in the first day of the event.

GLENVILLE, W. Va. - Carson-Newman Volleyball opened the season this afternoon with two games at the Glenville State tournament, sweeping both Chowan and West Virginia Wesleyan in the first day of the event.

Game 1 – Chowan

In the opening frame of action for the Eagles in the 2025-26 season, there were two silencing runs by the Eagles that slammed the door on set one 25-17. The Hawks kept it close in the early battles of the set, tied 7-7 until Carson-Newman found a groove with two kills by sophomore Annie Dziczkowski putting them up 13-8.

While Chowan fought back to make it 19-17 helped by a few attack errors by the Eagles, Addie Smith was the hero at the service line, notching three aces in the last five points to give the Eagles the victory.

 After the Eagles went down early in set two, 4-2, they grabbed the reins and never looked back. Tough serving by Avery Sziksai threw the Hawks out of rotation early and allowed for Carson-Newman to take an 8-4 lead. The set ended in a similar fashion with Sziksai serving the Eagles to a 23-11 lead, and an attack error from Chowan would give C-N set two 25-13.

Three kills in a row from Dziczkowski got the Eagles up and running in set three. Halfway through, the Hawks were hanging on when Smith stepped up to the line again. After eight straight serves from the junior, four kills from Dziczkowski, and a slam from Grace Akard, the Eagles were up 21-8 and would ultimately win the match thanks to an ace from Blair Cherry.

In game one, the defense shined, combining for 87 digs, a mark they only reached last season three other times. Sophomore outside and 2024 Second Team All-SAC pick Emerson Ahsmuhs got her season started on the right foot with 15 kills and tied a team high 18 digs in the match. Junior captain Trinity Hafey was the other defender to reach the 18 dig mark.

 Four Carson-Newman players tallied double-doubles in the match, a feat that hadn't been achieved since October 2022. The team also hit a dominant .284, a mark only reached twice last season.

Game 2 – West Virginia Wesleyan

It was a seesaw of a game two for the Eagles, getting off on a rocky start when the Pioneers went up 4-0 in the early goings. Dziczkowski came to the rescue from the line, notching four service aces on a run that put C-N back on top 6-4.

The Eagles' tough serving kept them in set one, notching six team service aces. On the edge of a set one loss down 22-24, Bella Cardello and Dziczkowski landed two big time kills to send the set into extra points. Two attack errors from WVA Wesleyan gave C-N the set one victory 26-24.

Following set one, Carson-Newman kept their foot on the gas. With three total team blocks and a deafening solo block from Ahsmuhs, the Eagles outhit the Pioneers .288 to -.108. C-N won set two, dominating 25-11.

Set three was more of the same, with 18 kills from the Eagles silencing the Pioneers' efforts. They swept the match with a 25-16 set three victory.

With 7.5 total team blocks and 10 team aces, the Eagles set the tone for this match. Dziczkowski was the only Eagle in double digit kills (11) and added eight digs, six aces, and a block to round out the nightcap. Ahsmuhs followed her with a team leading 16 digs, nine kills and two blocks.

"Today showed a lot of our strengths and a lot of opportunities for us to grow in. We did good today but we want to do better and have a lot of things to work on," said head coach Cat Collins following the wins.

Now 2-0 on the season, the Eagles return to action tomorrow to round out their opening weekend at the Glenville State tournament, facing Bluefield State at 9:00 AM and the hometown Glenville State at 2:00.

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