Carson-Newman Volleyball Splits A Pair Of Matches On The Final Day Of The Chick-fil-A Invitational Saturday
Jefferson City, Tenn. - The Carson-Newman College Volleyball
Team (3-1) split its pair of matches Saturday to conclude play in
the Chick-fil-A Invitational. The Lady Eagles fell to the Javelinas
of Texas A&M-Kingsville, 3-0, in their first outing of the day
before defeating the University of Charleston (W.Va.) Golden
Eagles, 3-0, to wrap up tournament play on a high note.
"Today was a great day for us to prepare for conference and region
play, said Lady Eagle Head Coach Shannon Mincey." "(Texas
A&M)-Kingsville is bigger and moves their offense quicker than
most teams in our region. Our front line had an opportunity for
aggressive play against a large sealed block. We had shining
moments but never seemed to control the offense. They served more
aggressively and hit stronger than we did and in return kept the
momentum."
Texas A&M-Kingsville 3, Carson-Newman 0 - (25-20,
25-23, 25-16)
In the first set of the match, Carson-Newman kept it close with
Texas A&M-Kingsville until the Javelinas were able to score the
last four points of the frame to take a 1-0 lead.
The second set saw the Lady Eagles battle back from a 20-12 deficit
to bring the score within one at 20-19. C-N couldn't get over the
hump and ended up dropping the stanza by a 25-23 score.
TAMUK's attack propelled them to the win in the third set to take
the match as the Javelinas boasted a .375 hitting percentage
(12-3-24) as a team for the frame. With the set score at, 9-7,
Texas A&M-Kingsville went on the offensive to put the match
away.
Carson-Newman was led offensively by senior right side hitter
Caitlin Schlegel (Anacortes, Wash.) as she recorded eight kills on
17 swings. Senior outside hitter Jessica Schlachleiter (Cincinnati,
Ohio) tallied seven kills and recorded a team-high 10 digs while
senior setter Stephanie Cutter (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) dished-out a
match-high 19 assists for the Lady Eagles as well.
Javelina senior Sha Tramble (Houston, Texas) led all players with
11 kills on 27 attempts while seniors Tara Grier (Poth, Texas) and
Kirby Krueger (New Braunfels, Texas) combined for 34 assists.
Junior Virginia Hernandez (Katy, Texas) tallied a game-high 13 digs
as well for TAMUK.
"Playing against Kingsville gave me an opportunity to see how the
players would come back for the second match after dropping three
sets," said Mincey. "I leaned on my seniors to bring maturity back
to the court dealing with a loss and turning around to mentally
prepare for Charleston."
Carson-Newman 3, Charleston (W.Va.) 0 - (25-20, 25-17,
25-13)
The Lady Eagles were dominant on the attack, outhitting the Golden
Eagles .318 (36-9-85) to .080 (28-20-91) and racked up six blocks
to Charleston's one.
In the second set, C-N jumped out to a 13-5 and cruised to the
victory behind five kills from senior middle hitter Katie Troyer
(Plain City, Ohio).
The Lady Eagles put the match away in the third frame as their
attack was nearly flawless (14-1-26). Schlachleiter and Schlegel
each tallied four kills in the set en route to the victory.
Troyer and Schlegel led the way offensively for Carson-Newman with
nine and eight kills, respectively, while Cutter racked up 23 of
the team's 32 assists. Sophomore middle Nikki James (Cookeville,
Tenn.) and freshman middle Jasmine Clarke (Pelham, Ala.) each
finished the match with five blocks as well.
Schachleiter and Hayes recorded nine digs, a team-high for the Lady
Eagles.
Charleston middle hitter Emmalee Luther (Fort Pierce, Fla.)
registered a team-high six kills and was helped along by four
teammates who each tallied five kills apiece. Katie Williams
(Gettysburg, Pa.) had the lone double-double of the match, dishing
out 23 assists and picking up 14 digs for the Golden Eagles.
"We talked after the Kingsville match about coming in focused and
playing with more intensity," said Mincey after the victory over
Charleston. "Our hitters came out strong and didn't play
tentatively and our defense communicated well. We had a lot of
transition kills and our serves took Charleston out of their
offense. I was pleased with our leadership and focus."
Carson-Newman will travel to Bristol, Tenn., on Tuesday to face
King College in a NCAA Division II Southeast Region matchup. First
serve is set for 6:30 p.m.







