JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Anderson University volleyball team was unable to get untracked offensively and posted its second-lowest hitting percentage of the season, as Carson-Newman defeated the Trojans, 3-0 (25-23, 25-16, 30-28) in South Atlantic Conference action, Friday night at Holt Fieldhouse.
Anderson (21-3, 12-2 SAC) had its win streak snapped at five matches, while Carson-Newman improved to 10-8 overall and 6-5 in league action, while salvaging a split of the season series with the Trojans.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Sophomore Regan Duty and freshman Liliana Kinder shared team-high honors with nine kills apiece, with sophomore Hailee Wilhelm adding seven kills. Junior setter Emily Conlin handed out a match-high 32 assists and notched her 13th double-double of the season by coming up with 18 digs. Senior Jayln Knight recorded a team-best 22 digs, with freshman Meghan DeVaux posting 19 digs and senior Emily Conard tallying 10 digs.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
Duty and Kinder combined for 13 kills in the opening frame, but the Trojans were unable to overcome 12 attack errors and Carson-Newman escaped with the narrow two-point win.
Duty knocked down AU's first four kills to keep the score tight, as the Lady Eagles garnered an early 8-6 advantage. The Trojans drew even on Duty's fifth fill of the set and took their first lead, at 9-8, on an ace by Conlin. Back-to-back kills by Kinder boosted AU's advantage to 11-8 and equaled the largest lead by either team throughout the set.
Carson-Newman countered with a 6-2 surge to recapture a brief, 14-13, lead before AU took advantage of a C-N error to knot the score at 14 apiece. The Lady Eagles responded by building an 18-15 lead, but AU's Hannah Worsham, Duty and Kinder knocked down three straight kills to again even the score, at 19-19.
After Carson-Newman again edged out to a three-point lead, the Trojans rallied to pull even at 23 apiece before the Lady Eagles scored two straight to claim the hard-earned win.
Second Set
After quickly falling behind 5-1 to open the frame, AU countered to knot the score at 5-5, before the Lady Eagles used a 7-1 run to break open a tight set.
The Trojans got within 17-12 on an error by Carson-Newman, but would get no closer, as the Lady Eagles scored five unanswered points to open a double-digit, 22-12, cushion and went on to win by the nine-point margin.
Third Set
The final frame featured 14 ties, including five in the early going and nine in the final frantic moments.
The Trojans' largest lead was two and Carson-Newman's largest advantage was four. After falling behind, 18-14, the Trojans battled back to even the score at 19 apiece on an ace by Conlin and the score was deadlocked eight more times.
AU used a 4-2 run to stake a 23-21 edge before C-N countered with three straight points to reach match point. Hailee Wilhelm knocked down a kill and Megan Embry followed with an ace to momentarily hold off the Lady Eagles.
Later, with the score deadlocked at 28-28, Carson-Newman capitalized on consecutive miscues by the Trojans to take the sweep.
ANDERSON STAT OF THE NIGHT
The Trojans' 87 digs equaled their fourth-highest tally of the season.
NOTABLES
• AU slipped to 12-3 in matches away from home this season.
• Regan Duty has averaged 10.2 kills per match over the last six contests.
• The setback marked the Trojans' second straight loss at Holt Fieldhouse.
• AU was swept for the first time since falling to Augusta on Aug. 31.
• Meghan DeVaux has totaled 55 digs in the last three matches.
• Jayln Knight has recorded 59 digs in her last four outings.
UP NEXT
The Trojans return to the Abney Athletic Center for a brief one-match homestand on Tuesday, when Newberry visits the Electric City. AU will be looking for a sweep of the season series after claiming a five-set win over the Wolves in mid-September.
