Carson-Newman Volleyball Splits Its Pair Of Matches On Day Two Of The Lees-McRae Carolina Challenge

Banner Elk, N.C. - Carson-Newman College (4-5) split its final two matches of the Lees-McRae Carolina Challenge Saturday at Williams Gymnasium, first defeating host school Lees-McRae College (4-2), 3-1, and rounded out the tournament with a loss to the University of West Alabama (7-2), 3-0.

"We had fun this weekend," said Head Coach Shannon Mincey. "It was great to have so much family support in the stands. We came away with two key wins, and can use our losses to focus on the aspects of our game that we need to improve on."

Carson-Newman 3, Lees-McRae 1 - (25-19, 25-22, 17-25, 25-21)
Carson-Newman used a .212 (40-16-113) to .160 (50-28-150) hitting advantage and nine to two blocking differential in defeating tournament host Lees-McRae Saturday morning.

The Lady Eagles took control of a tight first set down 16-12 and scored nine straight points to make the score 21-16. Senior Katie Troyer (Plain City, Ohio) tallied four service aces during the stretch.

In the second stanza, Lees-McRae built a 14-7 lead before the C-N responded with a run of their own. Down 21-19, the Lady Eagles scored six of the next seven points to go up two sets to none in the match. The Bobcats clawed their way back into the match, winning the third set. Leading, 15-13, Lees-McRae went on a 10-4 run behind .448 (14-1-29) hitting to finish the frame behind four kills by Megan Epperson (St. John, Ind.).

Carson-Newman sealed the contest in the fourth set putting together runs of four and seven points en route to the victory.

The Lady Eagles were led offensively by Jessica Schachleiter (Cincinnati, Ohio) with 16 kills while Troyer chipped in 10 kills of her own along with five service aces and five blocks. Stephanie Cutter (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) dished-out 23 assists for C-N while Angelle Hayes (Brentwood, Tenn.) and Mackenzie Tyree (Daleville, Va.) recorded 18 and 10 digs, respectively.

Epperson and Taylor Clendenin (Statesville, N.C.) were the main offensive weapons for Lees-McRae as the duo combined for 27 kills. Megan Mitchell (Minden, Nev.) recorded a match-high 35 assists while Luana Rocha (Belo Horizonte, BRAZIL) led the Bobcats with 13 digs.

West Alabama 3, Carson-Newman 0 - (25-14, 25-19, 25-6)
In Carson-Newman's final match of the tournament, the Lady Eagles ran into a West Alabama team that hit .418 (42-9-79) for the match.

Though C-N never led in the match, the Lady Eagles fought to stay in contention in both of the first two sets against a taller and deeper West Alabama squad.

The Tigers were led offensively by Gabriella Pedrosa (Belo Horizonte, BRAZIL) with a match-high 16 kills while Brittney Cousin (Robertsdale, Ala.) added eight kills of her own. Alexis McHale (Sugar Land, Texas) had 36 assists and Casey Byrnes (Stone Mountain, Ga.) totaled 13 digs.

Troyer led the Lady Eagles with six kills while Cutter had 12 assists as well for Carson-Newman.

Carson-Newman will have six days off before its next match when it will face Anderson University in non-conference action on the campus of Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tenn. First serve for next Saturday is set for 1:00 p.m.