Lions Drop Heartbreaker to Carson-Newman

MARS HILL, N.C. - The Mars Hill volleyball team lost 3-2 to Carson-Newman in Stanford Arena on Tuesday night. The Eagles won by scores of 21-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-23 and 15-13. Carson-Newman improves to 15-4 overall and 11-1 in the South Atlantic Conference while Mars Hill falls to 6-13 and 5-7 in league action. The match featured 20 lead changes and 46 ties.

Mary Kate Griffin had a career-high 22 kills, with the freshman duo of Rebecca Butler and Lauren Hochstetler contributing 19 and 14 kills respectively. Andie Russell and Christen Nicholson each had a pair of aces, with Butler, Griffin and Victoria Kaiser recording one ace. Butler led the Lions with 21 digs, followed by Nicholson with 20, Hochstetler with 17 and Hannah Wilson with 10. Griffin had a team-leading four blocks.

Jenna Wilson led Carson-Newman with 20 kills, with the Eagles receiving 17 kills from Rachel Harper and 11 kills from Kiayna O'Neal. Kristina Hill led the Eagle defense with 24 digs, followed by 23 from Harper, 14 from Taylor Lowe and 10 from Kyrie Pennington. Wilson also led Carson-Newman with six blocks.

The opening set had 16 ties, the last of which came when a Pennington kill tied the set at 20. Beginning with a Hochstetler kill, the Lions went on a 4-0 run to take a 24-20 lead. Carson-Newman cut the lead to three, 24-21, on a Lion service error before a Hochstetler kill closed out the set. The Eagles held a 24-15 lead in the second set before Mars Hill charged back to within a point, 24-23. Wilson closed out the set with a kill tie even the match at 1.

With the score tied at 18 in the third set, an Eagle attack error followed by a Russell ace gave the Lions a 20-18 lead and final lead change. Carson-Newman trailed by three, 23-20, but a kill and a Lion error pulled the visitors to within a point. Consecutive kills by Butler and Hochstetler gave the Lions a 25-23 victory.

A Regan Macomson kill gave Mars Hill a 21-16 lead in the third set, but an attack error on the next point sparked a 6-1 run with the Eagles evening the set at 22 on a Wilson kill. Griffin and Wilson traded kills on the next two points before an attack error and an O'Neal kill forced a deciding fifth set.

 Carson-Newman stormed out to a 9-4 lead in the fifth set before the Lions scored six of the next seven points to tie the set at 10. A Devon Felts kill gave the Lions their first lead of the set, 11-10, before the teams battled to a 13-all tie. Wilson's 20^th kill of the night gave the Eagles a 14-13 lead, with a Lion error closing out the match.

Mars Hill continues a four-match homestand on Friday against Newberry at 7 p.m.