JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Newberry College Wolves saw a 2-0 lead slip through their hands as they dropped three straight sets to the Carson-Newman Eagles Saturday afternoon in the regular season finale.

The Wolves end the regular season with a 15-15 overall record and 9-13 in South Atlantic Conference play. Carson-Newman finishes 25-5 overall and 20-2 in the conference.

The Wolves got off to a hot start in the first set, overcoming an early four point deficit and taking a 23-19 lead. The Eagles closed the gap to 23-20 but a kill and an attack error gave Newberry a 1-0 advantage with a 25-20 victory.

Newberry kept heating up in the second frame, boasting a .379 hitting percentage with 13 kills and only two errors. A 10-10 stalemate turned into a 14-11 Newberry lead, which was all the Wolves needed as they pushed the score to 22-18. Carson-Newman came flying back to make the score 24-23 but an Eagle attack error gave Newberry the scent of a huge road sweep.

After a 10 minute timeout the tides turned for the Wolves and disaster struck. Newberry kept the score close at 10-9, but the Eagles went on a 10-2 run, pushing the lead out of reach. Newberry mounted a valiant effort for a comeback but dropped the set 25-14.

Attack errors plagued Newberry in set number four as they committed nine in the frame. The Eagles took a 10-9 lead and never looked back taking the stanza 25-21 and forcing a deciding fifth set.

Carson-Newman dominated the fifth set hitting at a .429 clip. After taking an early 7-3 lead, the Eagles pushed to an 11-6 advantage. They allowed only two more Newberry points, taking the final frame 15-8 and the match 3-2. The Wolves did not help their cause, accounting for five opposing points with hitting errors while totaling a -.125 percentage.  

The Wolves were led by senior Holly Brisson who accounted for 13 kills. Senior Jessica King put away nine terminations and hit .300 for the match whil sophomore Logan Hayward also added nine kills and 21 digs and Amanda Soper cashed in eight kills of her own. Senior duo of Lauren Prachar and Elayni Stokes picked up 15 and 14 digs, respectively. 

Newberry will next appear in the South Atlantic Conference tournament next Friday at noon on the campus of Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, North Carolina. The Wolves will be the number eight seed and will face the number one seeded Wingate Bulldogs. The full tournament schedule is listed below, for more information please visit the SAC Volleyball website at www.thesac.com.


2014 South Atlantic Conference Tournament Schedule

Friday, Nov. 14 (at Lenoir-Rhyne University)

Game 1: #1 Wingate vs. #8 Newberry, Noon

Game 2: #4 Tusculum vs. #5 Lenoir-Rhyne, 2:30 p.m.

Game 3: #2 Carson-Newman vs. #7 Mars Hill, 5 p.m.

Game 4: #3 Anderson vs. #6 Lincoln Memorial, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 15 (at Lenoir-Rhyne University)

Game 5: winner game 1 vs. winner game 2, 5 p.m.

Game 6: winner game 3 vs. winner game 4, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 16 (at Lenoir-Rhyne University)

Game 7: winner game 5 vs. winner game 6, 3 p.m.