September 10, 2025

Ahsmuhs notches third season double-double in route to volleyball’s first SAC win of 2025

Carson-Newman volleyball got their SAC slate started on the right foot, taking a 3-1 victory over UVA-Wise on Tuesday evening on the road.

Carson-Newman

5-0,1-0 SAC

Virginia-Wise

2-3,0-1 SAC

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Carson-Newman 5-0,1-0 SAC	25	25	19	25	3
Virginia-Wise 2-3,0-1 SAC	18	17	25	16	1

WISE, Va. – Carson-Newman volleyball got their SAC slate started on the right foot, taking a 3-1 victory over UVA-Wise on Tuesday evening on the road.

This marks nine of the last ten years that Carson-Newman has opened the SAC slate with a victory. The win was guided by sophomore Emerson Ahsmuhs, who notched the third double-double of the 2025-26 season with a 18 kills and 16 digs. Her 18 slams were team leading, and she tacked on three blocks and an ace to account for 21.5 points for the Eagles.

Set one was a back-and-forth affair until midway through the set, when Wise's Morgan Blankenship went on a six-point run from the line. Following a Carson-Newman timeout, the Eagles were able to take back over thanks to a kill from Addie Smith. Once Smith got to the line when it was 14-15, she ran the Eagles up to a 18-15 lead, after which Trinity Hafey would take over and notch six straight again to round out the set. Ahsmuhs notched six kills alone in that first set and Blair Cherry was establishing C-N's offense well, with 11 assists. Carson-Newman won set one 25-18 with help from their five team blocks.

Set two came with some elite IQ play from all the Eagles, with multiple crafty shots allowing them to pull away early in the set 14-8. Kara Brantley added insult to injury from the service line, with three aces in a row to extend C-N's lead 18-9. It was the end of set two where the Cavaliers caught fire. With just one point to go till a set victory, two kills by Blankenship and a few attack errors by the Eagles allowed Wise to crawl back in it. Bella Cardello would ultimately end the set with a kill 25-17. Smith and Hafey were all over the floor, grabbing six and five digs in set two, respectively.

The momentum the Cavaliers were building in set two continued into set three. Two attack errors from the Eagles put Wise up 5-1 right off the bat, and despite the five point run from Annie Dziczkowski from the service line to make it 7-5 in favor of the Eagles, Wise responded. Five total blocks from the Cavaliers and 24 team digs was enough to throw the Carson-Newman offense off their mark, hitting .085 in set three. The Cavaliers' 15 kills were the most this Eagles team has allowed in a set all season.

In the first fourth set the Eagles have played this year, Ahsmuhs came out swinging, grabbing two kills within the first three points of the set. C-N saw contributions from all parties on the floor in set four though, with five different navy and orange jerseys grabbing two kills. More than halfway through the set, C-N pulled out to a 17-9 lead. While Wise had multiple opportunities, the Carson-Newman defense was outstanding, with 23 digs in set three, including six each from Ahsmuhs and Hafey.

With 23 digs on the night, Hafey lands a new season high, just 6 digs off her career high. Cherry dished 32 assists to go along with 13 digs for her 31^st career double-double, and Smith snatched 17 digs in the contest. Both Dziczkowski and Hurst chipped in 9 kills while Cardello bested a career high with seven total blocks.

With the win, the Eagles now have matched the 5-0 start from the 2015 CNVB team and now purse the 13-0 start from the '07 team. They aim to do this as the travel to USC Aiken next week for four games, beginning with Francis Marion on Friday. All four teams at the Aiken tournament will be important games for the Eagles regional ranking.