Aug. 25, 2007

Stats

HARROGATE, Tenn.-- The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles defeated the University of the Cumberlands, 3-1 (24-30, 30-18, 30-24, 30-22) in their 2007 season opener Friday night at the Lincoln Memorial tournament.

Middle hitters Nikki James and Katie Troyer were a force at the net with six blocks each. Allyson Corhn added 29 assists to lead the Eagles in that category while Salem Stepp had 11 digs. Two freshmen lead the hitting percentage for the night: Carly Mozgai (.243), and Nikki James (.230). Setter Stephanie Cutter had 10 digs for the Eagles.

"She [Cutter] reads the floor well as a defender and got a lot of balls up for us," head coach Shannon Mincey said.

The Eagles came back in game two with 3 ace serves by Bruna Rasuck.

"Cumberland was a very scrappy team - they didn't let a lot of balls drop. I think the serving run that Bruna made for us in the second game gave us back the momentum we needed to get into a rhythm. Our team did a great job working on our offense. In the third game, we shifted our focus toward serving more aggressively. We didn't have an opportunity to scrimmage during our preseason so this was a great opportunity to take a look at different rotations," added Mincey.

C-N will conclude the LMU tournament with two matches this afternoon against Ohio Valley and Union College of Kentucky.