October 17, 2025

Heart-racing five-set win in Hartsville led by career night for Hurst and Cherry

Volleyball delivered a classic five-set win, taking Coker to extra points in the fifth set while Maddie Hurst and Blair Cherry set all-time records in kills and assists.

Carson-Newman

15-3,6-3 SAC

Coker

8-10,4-6 SAC

Final	1	2	3	4	5	T
Carson-Newman 15-3,6-3 SAC	25	18	25	17	21	3
Coker 8-10,4-6 SAC	22	25	20	25	19	2

HARTSVILLE, S.C. – Volleyball delivered a classic five-set win, taking Coker to extra points in the fifth set while Maddie Hurst and Blair Cherry set all-time records in kills and assists.

"We are honestly so proud of this team. Overall, I thought it was a hard-fought win that showed how gritty this team can be," said assistant coach Jessica Moore.

Considering Coker had been on the winning side of four different five-set matches, they were the experienced team in this arena. However, the Eagles controlled the final points of set five, tallying their highest kill count of the year and riding the hot hand of Maddie Hurst and the setting choices of Blair Cherry to victory.

This is Carson-Newman's 15^th win of the season and grants them their sixth win in conference play to slate 4^th among SAC competitors.

The Eagles jumped on the Cobras early, taking an 8-3 lead thanks to kills from five different C-N players. Coker would keep the pressure on, though, forcing Carson-Newman to five errors to tie the set at 10. It would remain that way until the late point in the set where Maddie Hurst and Emerson Ahsmuhs would keep the Eagles alive with seven combined kills and allow them to pull out to a 24-20 lead. Finally, a kill from Bella Cardello would end the set 25-22 in favor of C-N. The Eagles were explosive on the net with 18 kills and hit .361 with Hurst and Ahsmuhs grabbing five and six, respectively.

The Cobras came to battle in set two, though. The set was tied 17-17 when Coker would use kills from Addie Bittner, Cheyenne Bird, and Kayla Gilmore to grab a 21-17 lead. Hurst would collect another kill to tack on a point for C-N, but the Eagles couldn't use that momentum. Coker grabbed the set two victory 25-18 carried by a .385 hitting percentage and five kills each by Bittner and Gilmore.

Set three was a stronger performance for C-N. The Eagles grabbed a 9-5 lead thanks to kills from Ahsmuhs and Annie Dziczkowski and caused an early timeout from the Cobras. A 7-1 run for Carson-Newman in the middle of the set made it 19-11 in favor of the Eagles, thanks to tough serving from Avery Sziksai and three kills from Hurst, which triggered another Cobra's timeout. Coker's Alyssa Carey led the Cobras back to a three-point deficit, but Carson-Newman would use Raychel Ehlers to grab two late kills, and Dziczkowski would close out the set 25-20. Hurst's seven kills in set three were complemented by five digs each from Ahsmuhs and Ehlers.

The Cobra defense would not go away throughout the match. Every attack C-N had to offer, Coker had a response. Coker was out to a 17-12 lead, where C-N would take a timeout to gain some momentum back. It was seven errors from the Eagles in set four that would inhibit their rhythm in the fourth, and two kills by Carey would give Coker set four 25-17. Carey had six kills total in the set and Coker's three team blocks would help hold the Eagles to a .139 hitting percentage.

Set five was a thriller. When the side switch occurred, the Eagles held the edge 8-7, but were quickly tied up at eight following an error. Following two kills from C-N that put them up 10-8, Coker would take a timeout and come back onto the floor with a vengeance. Kills from Carey and attacking errors from Carson-Newman gave Coker a 12-10 lead. Blows were exchanged back and fourth with each team having chances to close the set, but it would take extra points to solve. Coker only had on chance in the final goings to close the door while C-N had five chances, which they ultimately would put the Cobras to bed 21-19. Eight attack errors for the Eagles nearly played spoiler to the fun for Eagles fans thanks to three more blocks from Coker.

The Eagle's 80 digs on the match were the most since September 19^th against North Greenville. The effort on defense was led by four different C-N players who were in double-digits in the dig department. Ahsmuhs led the charge with 21, Trinity Hafey grabbed 18, Ehlers had 12, and Cherry logged 10.

Maddie Hurst had another career day. The sophomore has found her grove this week, landing a career high 23 kills in the match with a .366 hitting percentage. Her 23 kills in the match are the 12^th highest all-time by an Eagle in a single match. With 38 kills on the week and a record-setting accuracy clip on Tuesday, Hurst seemed to unlock her potential for the 2025 Eagles' season.

"Maddie was a great spark for us in important moments and it's been great to see her carry momentum through each game," said Moore

With a .246 hitting percentage as a team, the Eagles have now hit over .200 in four straight matches. The Eagles' success at the net has been orchestrated by Cherry, who dished 61 assists in the game for a career high that bests her previous mark by six. This mark also ties the most assists in a single game by a Carson-Newman setter in the history of Eagles volleyball. With her 10 digs, she counts her team leading 34^th double-double of her career.

Ahsmuhs also recorded a double-double with 18 kills and 21 digs for her 8^th of the season. Dziczkowski landed 13 kills and marked her third game in a row with ten or more slams.

This match was tied a whopping 39 times with 17 lead changes.

"Coker played well and did a great job pushing us and showing us where we still have room to improve. We're going to continue pushing ourselves in the gym and see how we can make those strides looking forward to our upcoming games," said Jess Moore.

Carson-Newman will play their next match on Tuesday in their return to Holt Fieldhouse when they host the Mars Hill Lions. Mars Hill ended C-N's season last year in the SAC playoffs.