2014 CARSON-NEWMAN VOLLEYBALL 2014 SEASON PREVIEW EAGLES PICKED 8TH IN PRESEASON POLL SAC PRESEASON COACHES POLL JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – After finishing 12-17 (7-15 SAC) and in ninth place a year ago, the SAC coaches pegged Car-son- Newman to finish eighth this upcoming season. “Our goals are to finish top three in conference,” Carson-New-man head coach Dan Ahiers said of his expectations. “Our goal is to beat Wingate. Our goal is to make the NCAA Tournament. We hold ourselves to a higher standard. Those polls don’t mean anything to us.” The Eagles return three of their top four players in terms of kills in senior outside hitter Rachel Harper (Chattanooga, Tenn.), junior middle blocker Kiayna O’Neal (Katy, Texas) and senior outside hitter Lauren Santarelli (Colorado Springs, Colo.). The main loss for the squad was the graduation of Emily Schultz, a rightside hitter. The Atlanta, Ga. native tallied 213 kills, sec-ond- most on the team, and 50 blocks, good for the third highest tally. “We have great leadership,” Ahiers said of the returning group. “The seniors are leading the younger ones and they have really pushed themselves and pushed all of the players to be better. That’s how I know we are going to be successful.” Ahiers’s group has a strong contingent of upper classmen with nine of the 15 players on the roster either a junior or senior. The Wingate Bulldogs were picked to win the conference receiv-ing 11 first place votes. Wingate has won the SAC in six straight seasons while only losing two games since the end of the 2006 season. Tusculum, a 2013 NCAA Volleyball Championship at-large selec-tion, was slotted second with Lincoln Memorial in third place. The Anderson Trojans came in fourth after finishing as the run-ner- up in SAC Tournament last season. The Trojans picked up one more point that Lenoir-Rhyne. The Bears received the lone first place vote that was not given to Wingate. A pair of 2013 NCAA Volleyball Championship participants, Queens and Newberry, finished in sixth and seventh place. Catawba, Mars Hill, Brevard and Coker finished below Car-son- Newman to round out the standings. SCHOOL TOTAL Wingate (11). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Tusculum. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Lincoln Memorial. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Anderson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Lenoir-Rhyne (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Queens. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Newberry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Carson-Newman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Catawba. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Mars Hill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Brevard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Coker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 SAC PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE FIRST TEAM Alison Cooke, Wingate Haley Rhyne, Lenior-Rhyne Lexi Potter, Wingate Shannon Gillespie, Anderson Hailey Pittman, Anderson Susie Murach, Wingate RACHEL HARPER, CARSON-NEWMAN Casie Mense, Lincoln Memorial SECOND TEAM Briana Gottberg, Lenoir-Rhyne Megan Hasse, Tusculum KRISTEN PICKETT, CARSON-NEWMAN Alix Hooker, Anderson Cory McGowan, Wingate Mary Kate Griffen, Mars Hill Stephanie Tassone, Wingate (Tie) Logan Hayward, Newberry (Tie) Elizabeth Bialkowski, Queens 2014 Carson-Newman Volleyball Media Guide • 4
Carson-Newman Volleyball Media Guide 2014
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