WISE, Va. – Winning its 25th match of the year, Carson-Newman secured its 17th sweep of the season rolling over UVA Wise, 25-21, 25-14 and 25-18, Friday evening at the Prior Center in the South Atlantic Conference regular-season finale.
"Finishing the regular season with a win creates confidence going into the tournament next week," Carson-Newman coach Ashley Tiernan said. "We are pleased with the outcome and ready to take on the postseason."
For the seventh time in program history, Carson-Newman (25-4, 16-2) recorded at least 25 victories for the year becoming the 11th team in Division II to hit that mark this season. The Eagles make it 7-0 all-time against UVA Wise (6-18, 2-16) recording a fifth sweep in the series.
Abbey Hildenbrand (Parker, Colo.) filled up the stat sheet with 22 assists, 15 digs and eight kills hitting .368 to guide the Eagles offensively to a .183 hitting percentage.
Julia Wheeler (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) was the only player on either side of the floor to tally double figures in kills posting 10 on a .226 margin adding nine digs. The effort vaulted her past Molly Locke and into eighth on the school's single-season kills list with 451.
Hayden Barton (Hixson, Tenn.) tossed in 14 scoops as C-N limited the home group to a .056 hitting percentage and five other Eagles tallied multiple kills.
�� @juliawheerr kills
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) November 4, 2022
1️⃣5️⃣ @abbeyh65 digs and 2️⃣2️⃣ assists
0️⃣.5️⃣ @CobbEmmagrace blocks
2️⃣5️⃣ @CarsonNewmanVB wins pic.twitter.com/yobM1BgSLk
While there were only three ties and one lead change in the first, it was a fairly tight set after the home group won the first three points of the day. Down 9-6, the Eagles reeled off a 6-1 spark and turned in five straight points after the Cavs tied it at 12. After Wise pulled within one at 22-21, the Eagles won the final three points to take the opening game.
In the second set, the teams were tied six times and the lead changed hands thrice with the Eagles busting out of a 9-9 tie by winning five straight paving the way to a 16-5 close to the set limiting the Cavs without back-to-back points the rest of the way.
Carson-Newman hit .242, its most efficient set of the day, in the third but once again it was nip and tuck featuring a dozen ties and six lead changes. The Cavaliers held a lead as late as 16-14 only to see the Eagles rattle off three in a row as part of an 11-2 close to the match that saw the team win the final six points of the match.
Five different Cavaliers had either five or six kills with Cassidy Farley and Morgan Blankenship pacing the group with six apiece. Kamryn Livingston led all players with 17 digs and Kaylee Scarce added 10. Lily Gutierrez and Piper Suddeth handed out 12 and 11 assists respectively.
The Eagles open the 2022 SAC Tournament with a quarterfinal match against fourth-seeded Newberry on Monday night at Holt Fieldhouse starting at 7 p.m. The game can be streamed on FloSports with a subscription. Follow along on Twitter and Instagram @CN_eagles for updates throughout the match.
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