October 23, 2025

Eagles look to keep Catawba winless at Holt Fieldhouse 10 years running in Friday matchup

With a five-game win streak, record-breaking performances, and all the momentum, Carson-Newman will play its 11th SAC game against Catawba, who has surprised many this year.

Catawba

8-9,5-7 SAC

Carson-Newman

17-3,8-3 SAC

Final	1	2	3	4	5	T
Catawba 8-9,5-7 SAC	12	25	25	17	9	2
Carson-Newman 17-3,8-3 SAC	25	23	18	25	15	3

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - With a five-game win streak, record-breaking performances, and all the momentum, Carson-Newman will play its 11th SAC game against Catawba, who has surprised many this year.

After Mars Hill ended the Eagles' season last year, Carson-Newman put on a performance that showed the Lions what they were made of. It was an effort on all fronts, but the defense shone, holding the Lions down to a .147 hitting percentage where no hitter was able to surpass ten kills. Maddie Hurst and Emerson Ahsmuhs' 31 combined kills matched the Lions' total team kills.

This marks the Eagles' fourth win in a row and moves them to 16-3 overall and 7-3 in the SAC where they are 4th in the standings behind Lenoir-Rhyne.

Ahsmuhs was the leader on the floor with 20 kills for the night and landed 2nd all-time in kills in a three-set match. With 16 digs to go along with her great night at the net, the sophomore logged her 9th double-double of the season. Maddie Hurst was also outstanding with 11 kills. Both hitters marked the fourth game straight that Hurst has hit double digits in the kill category.

These Eagle hitters were set by Blair Cherry, who grabbed all but three assists in the 45 recorded. Cherry also led the floor in service aces with three. Trinity Hafey was the dig leader on the floor with 21. This is the junior captain's second 20+ dig game of the season. She led the 58-dig effort from the Eagles that outplayed Mars Hill, who has the 15th-best dig mark in the NCAA.

The Catawba Indians have won three straight games in a row, all in sweeps. At 8-8 on the season and 5-6 in the SAC, Catawba sits 5th in the conference standings behind C-N. Catawba was projected 10th in the SAC preseason poll.

The Catawba Indians have done incredibly well this year compared to last. Their kills per set (12.12) and hitting percentage clip (.186) rank 5th among SAC competition. The attack is led by Sofia Beard and Lillie Kate Rogers, who are both averaging above three kills a set and rank 7th and 9th among league competitors in that category, respectively. Both setters have allowed this team to stack up into 5th place in assists per set in the SAC (11.47). Kaley Moffett (5.75) and Tamie Boudot (5.58) are 7th and 8th in the SAC standings in assists per set.

The Catawba defense is anchored by junior libero Riley Hill, who was named the WePlayed Sports South Atlantic Conference defensive player of the week following a league-leading 60 digs last week and averaging 6.67 per set to help the Catawba Indians pick up a pair of SAC sweeps at home. Hill is 1st in the SAC in digs per set this season (5.20) and 21st in the nation in that category. She leads a Catawba defense that is 10th in the league standings in digs per set (12.12). The Catawba Indians are second-to-last in the conference in blocking.

The Catawba College women's volleyball team put the brooms to work on home court for a third consecutive match with a 3-0 win over South Atlantic Conference opponent Newberry on Tuesday evening at Goodman Arena. Catawba exceeded the .300 mark on offense for back-to-back matches, out-hitting the Wolves .305-.118. Sofia Beard was the leader on offense for Catawba with 12 kills and 8 digs, while Lillie Kate Rogers tacked on a double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs. Riley Hill grabbed 17 digs while the Catawba Indians logged a season high seven blocks led by Jordan Duzenack with 5.

The Catawba Indians and Eagles will celebrate the 76th all-time meeting. Carson-Newman will look to creep toward leveling the series, as Catawba leads 36-39. The matchup between Carson-Newman and Mars Hill dates back to 1989, when Carson-Newman lost the first all-time matchup in two sets. The Catawba Indians took a 9-1 lead maintained a strong front through the 2000 season, and since C-N has been making strides at cutting into the Catawba lead.

The Eagles are 1-0 against Catawba in the Cat Collins era and won the last matchup. Carson-Nemwan has won last eight of the last ten matchups. The Eagles are 19-13 at home against Catawba, but 14-21 on the road and 3-5 in neutral-site games. Carson-Newman hasn't won a match in Salisbury since October 1, 2022. On the flip side, Carson-Newman hasn't given up a match at home to the Catawba Indians since October 1, 2016. That loss came in five sets.

In the last match between these two teams, Carson-Newman swept their opponent for the fourth time in five matches, taking down Catawba in dominant fashion. With the win, the Eagles were 6-0 for the first time since 2014, when Carson-Newman reached the second round of the NCAA tournament. Bennett McCombs took home Food City Player of the Match honors with a new career-high four service aces on top of 16 digs and four assists. Blair Cherry led the Eagles in assists for the 13th straight match with 25 on the night. Keeran led in blocks with a solo block and three assists. Maddie Hurst and Blake Cherry led the team in kills with seven each.

For Catawba, Devyn Berg led the offense with seven kills while Sydney McCutcheon and Haley Moffett grabbed 10 or more assists. Riley Hill was the only player for Catawba with double-digit digs (16). The Eagles only allowed Catawba to score 32 points throughout the match and held Catawba to a .038 hitting percentage.

Last season was challenging for Catawba, finishing 4-21 overall and 2-16 in conference action. Their two SAC wins came over Emory & Henry and Coker. The Catawba Indians ranked near the bottom of the conference in most statistical categories. Their one bright spot was their defense, that ranked 9th in the SAC in digs per set (15.98) led by Riley Hill. The Salisbury native was a Second Team All-SAC and All-Freshman selection in 2023 and earned a Defensive Player of the Week honor last year. In head coach Brenn Ferguson's third at the helm, the Catawba Indians didn't have a hitter or blocker ranked in the SAC standings and were ultimately tied with Emory & Henry for last place in the conference. This season was a huge change from a team that was 10-8 in 2023 and made the SAC Quarterfinals.

Catawba and Carson-Newman are set for first serve at 7:00 PM. Coverage is available on FloSports as well as StatBroadcast for the live stats.