Fairley’s career night leads Eagles to sweep of Indians
September 18, 2015

Fairley’s career night leads Eagles to sweep of Indians

SALISBURY, N.C. – For the fourth straight match, the Carson-Newman Eagles (6-1, 3-0 South Atlantic Conference) earned a sweep. Friday night at Goodman Gym, the Eagles defeated the Catawba Indians (4-6, 1-2 SAC) 25-19, 25-17 and 25-16.

SALISBURY, N.C. – For the fourth straight match, the Carson-Newman Eagles (6-1, 3-0 South Atlantic Conference) earned a sweep. Friday night at Goodman Gym, the Eagles defeated the Catawba Indians (4-6, 1-2 SAC) 25-19, 25-17 and 25-16.

"Catawba had a great crowd tonight," Carson-Newman coach Dan Ahiers said. "They were loud and made it a great environment. Unfortunately, we disappointed them by playing so well and beating their Indians. I was very impressed by our team. We started and played girls in different positions tonight and we didn't miss a beat."

Carson-Newman never trailed in the opening set, but Catawba stayed within reach much of the set until the Eagles won six of eight points to take a 21-16 lead. A kill by junior middle blocker Maddie Borch (Walnut Creek, Calif.) gave the Eagles a 25-19 victory. Senior outside hitter Sara Fairley (Charlotte, N.C.) led all players with eight kills and a .385 attack percentage.

Catawba took a 7-6 edge early in the second stanza before Carson-Newman won eight of the next 11 rallies to take a 14-9 advantage on a service ace by sophomore setter Anna Patton (Franklin, Tenn.). An ensuing 5-1 spurt gave the Eagles a 21-13 lead. The visiting group took the set on a service ace by junior libero Kristina Hill (Lake Orion, Mich.).

Once again in the third frame, the Indians were able to keep the scoring close early seeing a tie score at five. After winning five of the next six points, the Eagles continued to extend their lead before a kill by Borch sealed a match victory for Carson-Newman.

Fairley was the lone player in the match to record double-digit kills as she racked up a career-high 16 kills to go along with 11 digs for her third double-double of the season.

Patton finished with 35 assists, five digs and three service aces while Borch had seven kills and two total blocks in her debut in a Carson-Newman uniform.

Junior libero Taylor Lowe (Franklin, Tenn.) tallied a match-high 18 digs while freshman middle blocker Allie Foster (Johnson City, Tenn.) had eight kills and three block assists.

Catawba was led by 21 assists and 15 digs from Kaytee Frabotta and eight kills from Erin Morant.

The Eagles wrap up the road trip with a match Saturday afternoon at Queens (N.C.) with first serve scheduled for 2 p.m. With a sweep of the Royals, Carson-Newman would set the school record for most consecutive sweeps in SAC play.

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