Midweek SAC showdown at Holt Fieldhouse gives volleyball opportunity to regain winning SAC record
Emory & Henry comes to town to give Carson-Newman a chance at first home victory.
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JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - Emory & Henry comes to town to give Carson-Newman a chance at first home victory and elevate their conference record above .500.
Carson-Newman most recently fell in three sets to the Wingate Bulldogs in their second home game of the season. Despite a battle of a set one where Carson-Newman held the lead until the final two points of the set, the Eagles would drop straight sets to the #21 Bulldogs. The match against Emory & Henry will be C-N's chance to get their first win at home in 2025.
Carson-Newman has had an incredibly good start to the season. With an 11-2 overall record, the Eagles' only two losses of the year have come to teams projected ahead of them in the conference preseason poll (Lenoir-Rhyne and Wingate). This next contest against Emory & Henry is the exact midpoint of the season for C-N; with 27 games in the regular season, the Wasps visit Holt Fieldhouse for the 14th match of the year.
The Eagles are coming fresh off a loss in Mossy Creek. In their most recent battle with Wingate, the Bulldogs outkilled the Eagles 48-30 and hit .396 on the match. Emerson Ahsmuhs was the kill leader for the Eagles with nine, while Annie Dziczkowski followed with eight. Trinity Hafey highlighted the defense with 16 digs while Maddie Hurst added four blocks. Five players for Wingate logged eight or more kills, and the Bulldogs' Maya Van Heyst picked up 14 digs. Carson-Newman will be looking for a bounce-back both offensively and defensively in this game against the Wasps.
Last season was rocky for E&H. The Wasps were 5-23 in 2024 with just two SAC wins. They finished tied with Catawba for the bottom of the conference standings, just edging the Catawba Indians in the overall record to finish second from last. The two conference wins for Emory & Henry came in five sets to Coker and a three set sweep of UVA-Wise.
Emory & Henry finished at the bottom of the league in most offensive categories last season, averaging just about 8.5 assists per set while hitting .103 as a team with a 9.52 kills per set tally. They only averaged 12.6 points per set throughout the regular season. It was their defense that proved to be their saving grace last season. The Wasps ranked 11th among conference opponents in digs per set (15.33) but were among the top five in the SAC in blocks per set, averaging the same as Carson-Newman in 2024 (2.04 b/s). However, E&H struggled with serve receive. They had the second-most reception errors among SAC opponents (181).
E&H's graduate student Libby Bickelhaupt finished fifth in the conference in digs per set with 4.91. Another graduate student, Brianna Hogan led the Wasp's attack with 233 kills on the year and 2.51 kills per set. Logan Newberry and Zoie Pace were the main setters for Emory & Henry, averaging 4.80 and 3.70 assists per set, respectively.
This season, the Wasps were projected to finish last in the conference preseason poll. So far, that is the case. The Wasps are 0-4 in SAC play and 3-10 on the season. They have kept matches relatively close, though, with a five-set battle against Tusculum plus they grabbed a set in their loss to Coker. Their three wins have come from out-of-conference opponents against Albany State (Ga.), Virginia Union, and most recently, they won a five-set match against Guildford this past Saturday.
The Wasps have improved upon their statistical marks from last season, and currently rank first in the SAC in blocks per set. Gracyn Miller and Haley Harnichar had led the way on the blocking front, combining to provide 1.83 blocks per set. Miller is accounting for 1.05 of those blocks, and currently ranks second among SAC competitors in the category behind Carson-Newman's Bella Cardello, while Harnichar is 11th in the conference.
The Wasps also do a decent job from the service line. They rank 6th in the SAC in service aces per set with a 1.81 ace per set clip. However, E&H ranks below everyone in the conference in both the attacking categories. Their 9.98 kills per set this season and 0.121 hitting percentage are 36 places away from being the worst in the nation. Their attack is headlined by sophomore Tori Boling, who is averaging 2.29 kills per set and also leads the team in service aces (20). Miller is the sharpest shooter on the squad, ranking 9th in the SAC with a .294 hitting percentage.
There has been a bit of a learning curve for Emory & Henry since entering the SAC conference. The Wasps became members of the league four seasons ago and began conference competition in the 2022-23 season. Since that point, the Wasps' best record in the SAC is 6-12, which occurred during Pam Newberry's first year with the program. E&H has never qualified for the SAC tournament, nor has it ever made the postseason since becoming a Division II program. The Wasps did not play a conference game in 2021, but that was the last time E&H had a winning record (15-11). Before that season, Emory& Henry had not seen an above .500 season since 2016 when they went 16-13 overall and 6-5 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference at the DIII level; that was also the last time they had a winning conference record.
This will be the seventh all-time meeting between the Wasps and Eagles. E&H has never come out on the winning side of the series and has only won two sets against the Eagles all-time. Those two set wins came in the same game on October 27, 2023, when Carson-Newman beat Emory & Henry in five sets. Otherwise, C-N is 19-2 in set wins in the all-time series; all of their wins have been sweeps, save the October 27, 2023 game. The first meeting between Carson-Newman and Emory & Henry was in 1992 under coach Lorri Johnson, where the Eagles won in two sets.
It has been 331 days since these two teams have faced off. The last time out against the Wasps, Carson-Newman dominated. The Eagles won the first two sets 25-16 and finished out the match with a 25-21 victory in set three. It was C-N's Taylor Adams who led the attack for the Eagles with 12 kills while Maddie Hurst followed closely behind with 11 and Ahsmuhs notched 7. Blair Cherry ran the floor effectively with 35 assists and 18 digs to help the Eagles hit .271. Bennett McCombs also stole 26 digs. For the Wasps, Gracyn Miller was the best attacker with 7 kills and Brianna Hogan followed with 6. Zoie Pace and Logan Newberry split setting duties with 14 and 13 assists, respectively, while Hannah Watson was dominant at the net, picking up 5 blocks.
Carson-Newman and E&H will take the court at 7:00 PM on Tuesday, September 30th. Coverage is available on FloSports beginning around 6:55 PM.
Team Stats
Emory & Henry
| Game Statistics | Emory & Henry | Carson-Newman |
|---|---|---|
| Hitting % | 0.101 | 0.323 |
| Blocks | 6 | 6 |
| Digs | 36 | 40 |
| Aces | 5 | 5 |
