AIKEN, S.C. – Carson-Newman found another gear in the third set and led late in the fourth before a rally from USC Aiken clinched a four-set win for the Pacers Friday evening at the Convocation Center to wrap up day one of the USC Aiken Tournament.
"There were two tough matches today," Carson-Newman coach Ashley Tiernan said. "We struggled to get into a rhythm early but considering we haven't played anyone but ourselves these past three weeks, I am happy with how we battled towards the end."
USC Aiken (2-0) remains flawless at home all time against the Eagles winning for the seventh time in seven tries as the Pacers have won six of the last seven affairs played against Carson-Newman (0-2).
The teams traded the first 14 rallies of the match before the Pacers rattled off six straight points to take charge of the opening game. C-N won two points in a row just once the rest of the way with Anita Cookey-Gam capping a first-set win with a kill.
To open the second stanza, the Pacers won the first four points and led by at least two points for the duration of the game ultimately pulling away and winning on a blast by Brooke Wroten. Carson-Newman committed as many attack errors, six, as it had kills.
In the third, the Eagles came out swinging piling up nine for the set on a .233 margin. Despite the effort, Aiken picked up five points in a row to put the visitors behind 19-17. Following a time out, the Orange and Blue ripped off six straight points and eight of the final nine to stay in the match and take the third.
Tiernan's troops were able to open up a 13-8 lead in the fourth set thanks to a smash by Blake Cherry (Cookeville, Tenn.) but the club was unable to hold onto the advantage with the home club racing back to tie the score at 16. Cherry produced a blast to give C-N its last lead of the day at 19-18 only to see Aiken win seven of the final eight points to seal the win.
Cherry powered the Eagles with 11 kills posting a fiery .346 hitting percentage adding six digs and three aces. Julia Wheeler (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) added nine blasts tying Hayden Barton (Hixson, Tenn.) for the team lead with a dozen digs. Abbey Hildenbrand (Parker, Colo.) dished out 26 assists.
Twenty-one of the team's 34 kills on the day were produced in the final two sets with the team finishing the day hitting .116 adding seven aces and three rejections.
The Pacers produced double-digit kills in each set hitting .216 on the day. Sadie McKay led all players with 16 blast posting an efficient .462 hitting percentage tacking on 12 digs and five aces. Alie Smith, the reigning Peach Belt Player of the Year, registered 15 kills but the Eagles forced her into eight hitting miscues. She also had a dozen digs.
Caroline Foster was the catalyst of the offense with 42 assists, three kills and eight digs. Kari Mercer paced all athletes with 22 digs chipping in eight assists and a pair of aces.
Carson-Newman wraps up the tournament with two matches on Saturday starting at noon with the first-ever meeting against Embry-Riddle.
- CN -
