Eagles open season with rivalry doubleheader
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - The Carson-Newman beach volleyball team opens the 2022 season at home with a doubleheader against Lincoln Memorial on Saturday, Feb. 19.
VIDEO: 2022 Beach Volleyball roster video
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - The Carson-Newman beach volleyball team opens the 2022 season at home with a doubleheader against Lincoln Memorial on Saturday, Feb. 19.
Under first year head coach Cat Lind, the Eagles started the 2021 season 6-3 before dropping eight of their last nine matches to finish the year with a 7-11 record. Despite the losing record, the seven wins are the second most in a season for the young program and Lind was named to the AVCA 30 Under 30 Beach Volleyball Awards list.
"We've been working really hard," says Lind. "We've beeen going at it with early morning workouts and 7 am conditioning but we're just ready to get on the court and finally play."
The 2022 team returns sophomore Sierra Still to the sand in Mossy Creek. In her phenomenal freshman season, Still posted a record of 12-6 in doubles matches, playing primarily at the no. two position. Along with partner Abby Struewing, the pair were one of just three pairs to record a win over #1 Tampa at the 2021 AVCA Small College Championships. Still's 12 wins in one season tie her with Molly Locke, Kristina Hill and Natalie Harris for second most in one season. Still already sits at 12th overall in career wins.
"Sierra is a great weapon for us," says Lind. "She is very strong physically but mentally she's a good leader and keeps us up and is a good example for our entire team."
Mia Toribio and Lindsey Geurin need just seven wins this season to tie Abby Struewing for most career wins in program history. Geurin finished the 2021 season with a 10-8 record, while Toribio finished last season at 9-9, including a perfect 2-0 record at the no. two position. The pair picked up a win over nationally ranked Florida Southern at the no. three position last season, and helped the Eagles clinch a win over Division-1 Chattanooga.
The Eagles feature several newcomers from the indoor volleyball team, as McKenna Hall, Julia Wheeler, Abbey Hildenbrand, and Taylor Keeran will play with the sand Eagles this season. Hildenbrand does have beach volleyball experience, playing under Cat Lind in summer club beach volleyball.
Three new eaglets join the convocation, as freshmen Jenny Ille and Kat Nelson make their way to Mossy Creek, while junior college transfer Kenzie Palmer joins the nest from Fullerton Junior College in Fullerton, Calif. The junior from Flagstaff, Ariz. was named First-Team OEC for beach, helping lead the Hornets to a perfect 9-0 record and an OEC conference championship in 2021.
Nelson comes to Jefferson City from Sioux Falls, N.D. The two-sport athlete was a star for Roosevelt High School as a member of the school's volleyball and track & field teams. Nelson recorded 492 digs, 66 aces and 14 kills as a member of the Rough Riders varsity volleyball team in 146 sets played, and was also the team captain of the Roosevelt track & field squad.
While the Longleaf School of the Arts did not feature varsity athletics programs, Ille played club beach volleyball for Sinjin Volleyball Club in Raleigh, N.C.. The Chapel Hill native was a member of the Sinjin National Select Team that traveled around the United States and played in various tournaments.
"All those girls have a lot of personality and are fun to be around," says Lind. "Our girls lead by example and bring a lot of I.Q. and experience and they all add a lot to our culture."
This is the first time that the Eagles have opened the season at home since Mar. 3, 2018, also against Lincoln Memorial. Carson-Newman fell to the Railsplitters 4-1 en route to an abysmal 0-15 season.
Carson-Newman is 8-12 all-time in Jefferson City, but have won four straight home matches, going 4-0 at home in 2021.
LMU and Carson-Newman have met more times than any other current beach volleyball team from the SAC, as this weekend will mark the 16th and 17th meetings between the two programs. The Railsplitters hold a 10-5 lead in the series, but the Eagles have won two of the last three, including a 5-0 sweep the last time they met at the 2021 SAC Beach Challenge in Salisbury, N.C. The 2021 season was the first time since 2015 that the Eagles and Splitters did not meet more than once in a season.
Former Carson-Newman beach volleyball head coach and volleyball grad assistant Lucy Pennington-Russell is in her first year as the head coach of the Railsplitters beach program. Pennington-Russell holds the record for highest win percentage as a C-N beach volleyball head coach, going 6-1 in the 2020 season before the rest of the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lincoln Memorial enters the weekend 2-2 after playing in the St. Andrews Tournament in Laurinburg, N.C. The Splitters picked up wins over the host Knights and LaGrange College before dropping a pair of matches to SAC rival Tusculum. The no. 1 pair of Gabriela Abreu and Seugi Koyunev went 3-1 on the weekend, recording the only win for LMU over Tusculum.
"LMU is dangerous because they're a rival," says Lind. "There's going to be a lot of emotion in a rivalry match and with a former assistant on the other side as well. It is good for us to get them at home because we don't get a ton of home matches but we have done well here recently in front of our fans so hopefully that helps make a difference."
The two squads will play a doubleheader, with the first match beginning at 11:00 AM at the new look C-N beach volleyball courts on the edge of campus near the intramural fields. Admission is free to all Carson-Newman beach volleyball matches. For fans unable to make it to Mossy Creek this weekend, be sure to follow the Eagles on Twitter at @cn_eagles or online at cneagles.com
