Sixth-seeded Carson-Newman College upset third-seeded Tusculum College 3-1 in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Volleyball Tournament Friday afternoon at Cuddy Arena on the campus of Wingate University. Set scores were 17-25, 25-22, 25-23 and 27-25 in favor of the Eagles.

The Eagles (20-10) advance to Saturday's semifinals against the winner of Friday's quarterfinal match between Flagler College and Armstrong Atlantic State University. Tusculum, which was making its second consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament, finishes the season with a record of 25-7.

Carly Mozgai led Carson-Newman with 16 kills, including three straight in the fourth set that erased a 24-21 Tusculum lead. In all, the Eagles saved four set points in the fourth set before putting the match away on a kill by Lindsey Bryant. Nikki James added 11 kills and 11 blocks (seven solo) and Carly Swisher chipped in with 13 kills for Carson-Newman.

Rhayne Smitherman paced Tusculum with 19 kills, while Bailee Price had 11 kills and 13 digs and Allyson Ray added 11 kills and five blocks in her final collegiate match. Ashley Sarmiento dished out a match-high 51 assists for the Pioneers, while Sam Underwood and Caitlyn Dean paced the defense with 23 digs apiece.

Tusculum, which had defeated Carson-Newman twice during the regular season by identical 3-1 scores, rallied from a 16-13 deficit in the first set by scoring 12 of the final 13 points. Price had a pair of kills and two aces during the decisive run, while the Eagles committed three attack errors.

In the second set, Carson-Newman bolted to early leads of 5-2 and 11-6, but the Pioneers came back to force ties at 18-18, 19-19 and 20-20. However, Tusculum was unable to assume the lead and the Eagles came up with three blocks and an ace for their final four points in a 25-22 set victory.

Set three seemed to be in the hands of the Pioneers, as an 8-5 Eagle lead turned into a 19-12 Pioneer advantage thanks to four Carson-Newman attack errors along with two kills each by Smitherman and Price. However, the Eagles fought back with six straight points including two kills and two blocks by James to pull within 19-18. The Pioneers broke a 20-20 tie on back-to-back kills by Price and Underwood, but kills by Mozgai and Bryant and an attack error from the Pioneers gave the Eagles a 23-22 lead. Ray knotted the score at 23-23 with a kill for Tusculum, but Mozgai came up with consecutive kills to give Carson-Newman the 25-23 set win and a 2-1 lead in the match.

With their season on the line, the Pioneers came out storming in the fourth set, scoring the first five points and forcing the Eagles to burn a timeout. Tusculum extended its lead to 12-7 and then to 16-10 following three kills and a block from Smitherman in a four-point run, but the Eagles came back with four straight points to trim the Tusculum lead to 16-14. The Pioneers built their lead back to four at 22-18, only to have the Eagles reel off three in a row to pull back within a point at 22-21.

Kills by Price and Smitherman put the Pioneers on the verge of forcing a fifth set at 24-21, but Mozgai stepped up for Carson-Newman with three straight kills to level the score at 24-24. A block by Ray and Sarmiento on Mozgai gave Tusculum its final lead at 25-24, but Mozgai staved off yet another set point to force a 25-25 deadlock. Carson-Newman took a 26-25 lead on a kill by Rachael Bowlin, then Bryant finished off the match at the net to send the Eagles to the regional semifinals.

Statistically, the match was nearly even as the Pioneers had a 57-55 edge in kills and hit .209 to .193 by the Eagles. Tusculum tallied 87 digs to 79 by Carson-Newman, but the Eagles accounted for 13 points on blocks while the Pioneers finished with eight blocks in the match.

From a milestone perspective, several Pioneers added their names to the program's record book in 2010. Dean set a school single-season record and established a new NCAA Division II record (25-point scoring rules) for digs in a season with 845, while Sarmiento accumulated 1,256 assists to rank fourth on the program's single-season list. Alyssa Raterman had seven kills without an error in 13 attacks against Carson-Newman to finish the year with a .350 hitting percentage, the second-best mark in program history.

Ray, a 6-1 middle blocker from Hudson, Fla. and the team's lone senior, concluded her only season on the court at Tusculum with 276 kills and a team-high 81 blocks in 32 matches. A transfer from Armstrong Atlantic State University, Ray amassed more than 1,000 kills in her collegiate career.

Tusculum placed a league-best four players on the All-South Atlantic Conference squad, as Dean, Raterman and Sarmiento earned All-SAC First Team honors and Underwood garnered Second Team recognition. Sarmiento was tabbed as conference Freshman of the Year and third-year head coach Michael Robinson was recognized as SAC Co-Coach of the Year after leading the Pioneers to a 16-2 record in SAC contests despite having just one senior and no juniors on the roster.