Carson-Newman Goes Back-to-Back in Beach Volleyball
GREENEVILLE, TENN. (TheSAC.com) – The top-seeded Carson-Newman Eagles captured their second consecutive South Atlantic Conference Carolinas Beach Volleyball Championship. The Eagles went 12-0 in regular-season play and swept through yesterday's pool play without a blemish. They then defeated Erskine 5-0 to advance to a second straight championship clash with Tusculum and dominated the Pioneers with another 5-0 sweep.
Tusculum earned its spot in the final thanks to a 3-2 semifinal win over an upset-minded Catawba squad.
In the championship match, it took a little over an hour for Carson-Newman to prevail in all five matchups. In the number one slot, Trinity Hafey and Paige Halcrow overcame a 21-13 loss in the first set to post a 21-14, 15-8 comeback victory. The only other match that went the distance came in fifth doubles, where Madison Trondle and Kelcey Peterson won 16-21, 21-19, 15-13 in a hotly contested battle with Tusculum's Cooper George and Ryann Gallagher.
Second doubles went to C-N's Emerson Ahsmuhs and Ava Potts, who went on to earn Most Valuable Pair honors, by a final of 21-14, 21-11. The third doubles pairing of Addie Smith and Camryn Ehlers prevailed 21-11, 21-14, while Morgan Foy and Lucy Bartee won in the fourth spot, 21-13, 21-7.
The teams will now await their postseason fate as the NCAA Beach Volleyball Championships take place in a few weeks.
2026 South Atlantic Conference Carolinas All-Tournament Team
Hannah Marsh, Tusculum
Sofia Vega, Tusculum
Brynn Smith, Tusculum
Sylvia Liszewski, Tusculum
Trinity Hafey, Carson-Newman
Paige Halcrow, Carson-Newman
Camryn Ehlers, Carson-Newman
Addie Smith, Carson-Newman
Ava Potts, Carson-Newman
Emerson Ahsmuhs, Carson-Newman
Most Valuable Pair
Ava Potts / Emerson Ahsmuhs, Carson-Newman