Volleyball remains one of the few programs undefeated in the country with four game sweep at the USC Aiken Tournament
September 13, 2025

Volleyball remains one of the few programs undefeated in the country with four game sweep at the USC Aiken Tournament

Carson-Newman volleyball moves to an astounding 9-0 on the season after two wins over Mount Olive and North Greenville at the USC Aiken tournament. Their 9-0 start to the season is the best of any Carson-Newman team since 2007.

AIKEN, S.C. – Carson-Newman volleyball moves to an astounding 9-0 on the season after two wins over Mount Olive and North Greenville at the USC Aiken tournament. Their 9-0 start to the season is the best of any Carson-Newman team since 2007.

The Eagles started their morning early with an 11 AM, three-set sweep over Mount Olive and after dropping the first set to North Greenville, rallied to win 3-1.

Coach Cat Collins raved about her teams this weekend, "I am so very proud of this team. We faced some challenges and adversity but none of us ever doubted what we are capable of," she said. "We learned a lot about ourselves and have some work to do, but I couldn't be prouder of this team and their work and our responses this weekend."

Game one (Mount Olive) – It was a back-and-forth affair in set one of the Eagles' morning matchup, with the Eagles up 15-14 midway through the set. A few kills from Addie Smith later, C-N jumped out to a 20-15 lead. Kills for Emerson Ahsmuhs and Annie Dziczkowski powered the Eagles through the first set, grabbing a 25-19 set one win. Dziczkowski landed 6 kills in the first set alone.

In set two, a opening serving run from Trinity Hafey and two kills from Ahsmuhs put the Eagles up 4-0. Midway through the set, the Eagles block was deafening. Four total team blocks were led by Hurst and Cardello, with two apiece, and helped hold the Spartans to a .031 hitting percentage in the second set. It was a full team effort in the second, as four Eagles notched more than one kill (Bella Cardello – 3, Addie Smith – 3, Emerson Ahsmuhs -4, and Annie Dziczkowski – 2). Carson-Newman would take set two again, 25-19.

Set three was a closer affair. After a one-point game for nearly the whole first half of the set, Mount Olive would grab a 16-13 lead following a few of the rare attack errors from the Eagles in this game. Ahsmuhs swept in again to save the day with four kills and a four-point run at the service line. The Eagles would take set three 25-21 with a punctuating ace from Smith, who is second on the team in that category.

Ahsmuhs was phenomenal again, with her sixth double-digit kill game of the season, notching 15 in the contest to go along with four blocks and eight digs. Dziczkowski also landed in the 10+ kill echelon, with 10 kills on three digs and an ace. The Eagles outhit the Spartans 44 to 32 and combined for seven blocks and 51 digs.

Collins said, "This was a great match for us, beginning to end. We did a great job staying focused on the defensive game plan and played great as a team."

Game two (North Greenville) – It was all North Greenville to begin set one, as the Eagles were down 9-3 following two kills from Greenville's Haley Freeman and an ace from Anna Fiddelke. Carson-Newman would take a timeout to regroup and spurred a few errors from the Trailblazers to tie the set at 16. Raychel Ehlers would be crucial for the Eagles to stay in set one, taking two massive swings that gave the Eagles their first lead 20-18. However, the serving from the Trailblazers was dangerous. The Eagles had three reception errors and hit .184 as a team to drop the set 22-25.

The Eagles wouldn't let that happen again though. Ehlers and Ahmuhs and Smith exploded in the second thanks to 11 assists from Blair Cherry, grabbing 15 kills during the set. Eight different players for C-N pitched in with digs, and Madison Wallman went on two momentus runs from the service line, putting the Eagles up 9-5 and 21-13 both times. North Greenville couldn't find an empty space on the hardwood, hitting .059 as a team.

The energy would carry from there as C-N wouldn't take their foot off the gas. Ahsmuhs and Ehlers worked in tandem to keep the Trailblazers on their heels, grabbing a 12-4 lead in set three. With multiple options working for the Eagles in Cardello and Smith, North Greenville couldn't keep up. Two late kills from Ahmuhs and a big block from Cardello and Smith would give C-N a dominant 25-14 victory and a 2-1 lead. Ahsmuhs was unstoppable with 10 kills.

Finally, set four was jumpstarted by a five point run at the service line from Raychel Ehlers, putting Carson-Newman up 11-5. The Eagles would never lead by less than five from that point on. Cherry connected with her hitters 13 times, and used a 5 kill, .556 set four from Ehlers to carry them to a 25-17 set four win and 3-1 match victory.

The Eagles did well battling around eight total team blocks from the Trailblazers and were phenomenal on defense, picking up 82 digs in the match.

"First set, oops. But we saw a lot of adversity, the team did a great responding to the challenge. Our outsides were phenomenal and propelled us to have such a strong finish on the weekend," Collins said.

Three Carson-Newman players logged double-doubles in the match with Emerson Ahsmuhs grabbing her second 20 dig game of her career and her six double-double of the season. Ehlers also grabbed her first double-double with 15 kills and 13 digs, and Blair Cherry was an outstanding setter with 46 assists and 10 digs. Hafey also contributed 18 digs to help the Eagles.

This 9-0 start is the best and Eagles team has managed since 2007. These four victories at the Aiken tournament will be a huge contribution to the regional rankings when October rolls around and should boost Carson-Newman into a great position for a regional bid. Pending the result of Newberry's match with Flagler this evening, they are one of two teams left in the SAC yet to lose a game.

Carson-Newman will move onto Tuesday when they travel to Lee for another out of conference matchup before the bulk of SAC play.

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