Volleyball faces one final road test in the regular season
With three games remaining on the conference schedule, volleyball travels to Mars Hill looking for the season sweep.
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JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - With three games remaining on the conference schedule, volleyball travels to Mars Hill looking for the season sweep.
The Mars Hill Lions are 9-11 overall this season and 6-9 in the conference. They are in the midst of a three game homestand that began with Newberry on Tuesday and wraps up with this game against the visitors Jefferson City. The day before the Eagles come to town, Mas Hill hosts Southern Wesleyan. Mars Hill was projected 6th in the SAC preseason poll and currently sits tied for 6th in the SAC standings with Tusculum. Should it come down to it, will face Mars Hill in the final game of the season that could be the deciding seeding situation.
Mars Hill has one of the best back row defenses in the SAC. As a team, they rank 2nd in the conference and 8th in the NCAA in digs per set. Their 19.03 digs per set clip is held firm by the efforts of two-time First Team All-SAC libero Laela Jimenez, who is 1st in the SAC and 19th in the nation, averaging 5.35 digs per set. She is assisted by Ioana Poenaru who is 12th amongst SAC competitors in the category with 3.48 digs per set. Four more players on the Mars Hill roster also average 1.75 or more ups per set.
On the offense, Mars Hill ranks 5th in the SAC in kills per set (11.96) and 9th in hitting percentage (.151). The Lions are led by Poenaru, who is 4th among conference competitors in kills per set (3.22). MHU uses a litany of weapons, though. Kiera Links is the next best with 1.98 kills per set, while six other Lions average a kill or more per set. Mars Hill runs a six-two offense with Alyssa Kornegay and Mackenzie Schmucker who are both averaging at least 3.5 assists per set.
The Lions are coming fresh off a win on Tuesday over Newberry. Ioana Poenaru led the team with 10 kills while the duo of Selma Vassdal and Angel Jimenez each added nine kills apiece. Both Vassdal and Laela Jimenez led all players with four service aces apiece. Poenaru picked up the double-double by adding a team-high 17 digs. Mackenzie Schmucker also collected a double-double with 14 assists and 10 digs. Alyssa Kornegay led all players with 24 assists. They have now won two games in a row and are 5-3 in their home gym.
On Tuesday, Cat Collins' squad picked up their first 20-win season under her guidance, while Dziczkowski and Hurst set new single-match highs in hitting percentage. The night was headlined by the standout performances of Annie Dziczkowski and Maddie Hurst, who combined for 32 of C-N's 46 kills. All of the action at the net was expertly navigated by junior setter Blair Cherry, who hit a milestone of her own this evening. With her 10th assist in the contest, Cherry officially moved into the 5th spot in career assists in Carson-Newman volleyball history. Combined with 40 digs from the defense, the Eagles limited the Railsplitters to a .101 hitting percentage over the match. Emerson Ahsmuhs was the leader on the floor with 12 digs while Hafey followed with 9.
With a rich history, the Lions and Eagles will celebrate the 76th all-time matchup with this meeting. In the 76th meeting all-time between the Lions and Eagles, Mars Hill will look to creep toward leveling the series, as C-N leads 45-30. The matchup between Carson-Newman and Mars Hill dates back to 1992, when Carson-Newman lost the first all-time matchup in four sets. The Lions took a 6-2 lead maintained a strong lead through the '97 season before Carson-Newman tore up the Lions between 2000-2010. In that ten year span, C-N only lost one game to Mars Hill in five sets.
Despite the trend of success, Mars Hill has had C-N's number. The Eagles are 2-2 against Mars Hill in the Cat Collins era and lost the last two matchups before the win earlier this season. The two losses occurred during the challenging final stretch of the 2024 season for C-N when they lost six in a row. Carson-Nemwan has won four of the last ten matchups. The Eagles are 22-12 at home against the Lions but exchanged losses at home last year. Mars Hill ended up winning the neutral site game at the end of the season in the SAC Championship Quarterfinals. The Eagles are 5-5 in neutral site games against Mars Hill and 18-13 on the road.
The Lions visited with the Eagles just 18 days ago at Holt Fieldhouse where C-N took a 3-0 victory. 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 total team kills the Lions were able to produce. 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. The only Eagle to do better was Molly Locke's 21 kill performance against Newberry on October 2, 2015. 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 58-dig effort from the Eagles. For the Lions, Ioana Poenaru led with 8 kills while Jimenez picked up 14 digs. Selma Vassdal held up the Lions at the net with four blocks.
Mars Hill went 17-10 during the 2024 season, reaching the SAC Semifinals for the first time in over 10 years. They were eventually defeated by the #1 seed Wingate in straight sets. They were hot toward the end of the year, winning 12 of their last 14 matches which included an eight-game win streak. Their only two loses came at the hands of the nationally ranked No. 23 Wingate Bulldogs.
The semifinal appearance marked their first since 2011 and their tournament appearance marked their eighth straight. Mars Hill tied for third in the SAC, their highest finish in the league in over a decade.
On the defensive end, Laela Jimenez, an AVCA All-Southeast Region First Team selection, was also named to the 2024 D2CCA All-Southeast Region Second Team, marking her second straight year receiving that honor. She also grabbed AVCA honorable mention All-American honors. Jimenez, a native of Naples, Florida, was third in the nation in digs per set and helped lead the Lions to the top spot in the country as the team leads all others in Division II, averaging over 20 digs per set. The Lions put up a strong net presence, holding the best block in the SAC. Averaging 2.28 stuffs per set, Kaitlyn Grant and Nikkayla Stewart both ranked among the top 15 in the SAC in blocking.
Mars Hill was solid on offense as well, ranking top six in the conference in both kills per set and assists per set. Schmuker and Kornegay led the offense on the setting front, both ranking among the top 15 in the SAC in assists per set. Both setters were averaging at least four per frame. The Lions also were putting down 12.11 kills per set, good for 6th in the league. While no hitter stood out for Mars Hill, seven middles and outsides each averaged at least a kill per set throughout the season.
The Lions will be without six seniors and graduate students who helped with their semifinal run last year and will add a batch of eight new freshmen.
First serve is set for Saturday afternoon at 6:00 PM
Team Stats
Mars Hill
| Game Statistics | Carson-Newman | Mars Hill |
|---|---|---|
| Hitting % | .251 | .105 |
| Blocks | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Digs | 97 | 78 |
| Aces | 6 | 8 |
