December 3, 2025

Fourth seeded Eagles search for first NCAA Tournament victory in three years

Flagler and Carson-Newman will play for the fifth time in their history at the NCAA tournament Thursday evening..

Flagler

22-12

Carson-Newman

24-6

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Flagler 22-12	15	25	25	25	3
Carson-Newman 24-6	25	14	13	22	1

GAME NOTES

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - Flagler and Carson-Newman will play for the fifth time in their history at the NCAA tournament Thursday evening.

Following a 24-5 regular season, the verdict is in, and the Carson-Newman Eagles begin their first NCAA tournament since 2022 with a match against Flagler. The NCAA Division II Volleyball selection committee has determined this year's NCAA tournament field, listing C-N as the fourth seed in the Southeast Regional and Flagler as the 5th seed. The last time the Eagles made it to the NCAA tournament, they slotted in as the third seed and played the sixth-seeded Flagler, whom they lost to in three sets.

C-N hasn't played in 13 days, the last of which they lost in the SAC Semifinals to the conference champions, #14 Wingate. In the semifinal match, the 5th-best defense in all of Division II showed out, pulling off an 80-dig effort to limit C-N to just 28 kills. There were bright moments for the Eagles, with a healthy lead in set two after causing seven errors from the Bulldogs, but the #1 seed in the conference pulled back each time. Maya Van Heyst was unstoppable for Wingate, landing a triple-double with 10 kills, 31 assists, and a team-leading 21 digs. She would end up being the SAC tournament MVP. Sydney Moreland and Emily Johnson both grabbed 11 kills each, while four different Bulldogs generated ten or more digs. For Carson-Newman, Raychel Ehlers landed a team-leading 7 kills to go along with 19 digs en route to an all-tournament team nod. Ahsmuhs notched six kills with 11 digs while Dziczkowski matched her with six slams. C-N held the Bulldogs to their 6th-lowest hitting percentage of the season.

Flagler had an emphatic end to their season, grabbing the auto-bid to the NCAA tournament with a victory in the Peach Belt Conference Championship, besting Lander in five sets. With home-court advantage, the Saints captured their second PBC title in a row and won both the regular-season and tournament championships for the first time since 2011. They will cruise into the NCAA tournament on a three-game winning streak.

Marley Middlebrooks, Katherine Rank, and Clare Sheedy were all selected as the PBC All-Tournament team. Middlebrooks was named tournament MVP.

Middlebrooks put together a career match and was one of three Saints to register a double-double. Setting a new career high in digs, Middlebrooks found 18 while also setting a match and career high of 25 kills. Cassidy Bloom tied Middlebrooks in digs with 18 while also finding 11 kills. This is Bloom's fifth double-double this season. Sheedy was the last Saint to register one as she had a match high 53 assists and 13 digs. This is the first time since Oct. 3 against Middle Georgia State University and the third time this season Sheedy has had 50 or more assists. Among the seven blocks the Saints had, Rank registered a career high of five. Offensively, Rank found 13 kills. Bella Schwantz put up another match high in digs with 19, while Amelia Fitzpatrick found a season high 17. Among the seven blocks the Saints had, Rank registered a career high five. Offensively, Rank found 13 kills.

Flagler was 21-12 in the regular season this year and 12-3 in conference action. The Saints ranked first in the conference in the major offensive categories, including assists per set (12.24), kills per set (13.35), and hitting percentage (.243). All three of those marks rank among the top 60 in the nation. The Flagler attack is controlled by Clare Sheedy, who is averaging a conference-best 10.46 assists per set. She has helped Katherine Rank and Grace Flemming to top-five finishes in hitting percentage in the Peach Belt, averaging .289 and .338, respectively. Marley Middlebrooks leads the Saints' attack with a 3.71 kills per set clip and ranks 2nd in the conference and 47th nationally.

On defense, Flalger has the 6th best dig per set mark in the PBC, averaging 15.23 digs as a team. The back line is anchored by Caity Clancy, who ranks 7th among conference competition with 3.17 digs per set. Middlebrooks is the next best with 2.67. The Saints are shoving down 1.53 blocks per set. Flagler thrives from the service line, with both Sheedy and Amelia Fitzpatrick ranking top three in the Peach Belt in service aces per set. This has helped the Saints to 1.94 service aces per set as a team, which ranks 59th in the nation.

Carson-Newman has faced Flagler four times throughout history, and three of them have been at the NCAA tournament. The Eagles are 1-2 against the Saints in NCAA Tournament games. They have only met in the regional quarterfinals once, in 2022. C-N's lone win against Flagler was in the regional semifinals in 2019. All three of the losses to Flagler have come in straight sets, while the win in 2019 was in four. The Saints hold the set advantage 12-1.

In the last match against Flagler, a total differential of eight points decided the game with the third-seeded Carson-Newman's 2022 NCAA Tournament ending abruptly to sixth-seeded Flagler. The Eagles fell by set scores of 25-27, 22-25 and 21-25 at Cuddy Arena. The Eagles had won six of their last seven matches against teams from the Southeast Region since the start of the 2015 NCAA Volleyball Championships. Carson-Newman (27-6) moves to 9-9 in program history in the postseason losing in the opening round for the second time in the last seven trips to the tournament.

Skylor Weaver paced the Eagles with nine kills without an error on 13 swings hitting .692 while Julia Wheeler was held below double-digit kills for the second time in 2022. No player on either side of the net finished in double figures with Berglin and Robert each leading the way for the Saints with nine kills and Berglin adding 10 digs.

The SAC Champions, Wingate, will be the first seed in the tournament and hold hosting rights for the Southeast regional. On the top half of the bracket, the one-seeded Wingate will take on the #8 Emmanuel Lions coming off their Conference Carolinas' Championship. The winner of that game will take on the winner of #4 Carson-Newman vs #5 Flagler. On the bottom half, #2 Lenoir-Rhyne will face #7 Lander, and #3 Anderson will battle with #6 Augusta.

This is the Eagles' first trip to the NCAA postseason in three years. The last time the Eagles made it to the NCAA tournament, they slotted in as the third seed and played the sixth-seeded Flagler, whom they lost to in three sets. Flagler went on to the regional final where they fell to Wingate.

C-N has made 18 appearances in the NCAA tournament throughout their history, but hasn't won a game in the postseason since 2019 when they took down Augusta and would go on to win the regional. The Eagles are 9-9 all-time in NCAA tournament games.

Cat Collins was a part of the 2022 team that went to the NCAA tournament as an assistant coach under Ashley Tiernan, but will be adventuring into her first postseason at the helm of CNVB. This will also be the first NCAA tournament game for the majority of the roster. The only two players from the 2022 tournament team who remain are Paige Bussom and Grace Akard.

In 12 national tournament appearances since becoming an NCAA Division II member in 2009, Flagler has won three Southeast Region championships and reached the Final Four in 2009. Flagler's last regional title came in 2017, when the Saints hosted the regional and beat Wingate 3-0 to advance to the Elite Eight.

The first round of the NCAA Southeast Regional Quarterfinals begins Thursday, December 4th. Coverage is available on Hudl and the Eagles Sports Network. You can find the full bracket here.