JEFFERSON CITY, TENN. – In a rematch of the 2019 South Atlantic Conference Championship, the Queens University of Charlotte women's volleyball team suffered a 3-2 (25-19, 25-22, 22-25, 21-25, 15-19) loss at the hands of defending SAC Champion Carson-Newman University inside Holt Fieldhouse.
 
Carson-Newman (2-0) never trailed in the opening set and jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the match after holding the Queens (1-1) offense to a .081 hitting performance across the first two sets of play.
 
The Royals responded by hitting .209 in the third set of play to avoid elimination and forced a deciding fifth set after rallying from a 21-20 deficit in the fourth frame to score the final five points and claim a four-point win with a kill from Abbey Criser.
 
In the fifth, the Eagles built an early 5-1 lead to force a Queens timeout and built a 10-3 advantage before the Royals put together four unanswered points to close the gap to three. Carson-Newman answered with a 4-0 run of its own to reach match point and sealed the home win with a kill from Joe Rhodes.
 
Casey Tarvin led Queens with 21 kills, 16 kills and three service aces, while Criser finished with nine kills and 20 digs on defense. Setter Brooke Farley, the reigning SAC Specialist of the Week, guided the offense with 45 assists to go along with 11 digs and libero JayCee Jones racked up 31 digs on the back row. Freshman Kate Majewski provided a defensive spark for the Royals with 17 digs off of the bench.
 
The Royals conclude their three-match road trip to open the season on Tuesday, March 9 when the team travels to Hartsville, S.C. for a match with Coker University at 7 p.m.