TAVARES, Fla. --- The Tusculum University beach volleyball team avenged last month's loss to Carson-Newman by knocking the Eagles out of the AVCA Small College Beach Championship on Sunday (Apr. 18) morning. The Pioneers also came up just short of the championship match after a 3-2 loss against Wayne State.
The top flight of Emma Johnson/Haley Davis and the No. 5 flight of Mabry Ward/Arizona Webb won both of their matches on the day in three sets.
Tusculum (4-9) returns to action on Saturday (Apr. 24) in Lynchburg, Virginia, taking part in a tri-match hosted by Liberty.
Match 1: Tusculum 4, Carson-Newman 1
Seeking revenge after last month's loss to the Eagles, the first in program history, the Pioneers woke up ready to battle in an early morning showdown. The winner would earn a spot in the Silver Bracket semifinal.
Britney Shawel and Diana Bierwagen reached the win column with a third flight identical score of 21-17, 21-17.
Ward and Webb completed the reverse sweep of the Eagles at No. 5 after dropping the first set, winning 11-21, 21-17, 15-8.
The No. 4 pair of Skyellar Hall and Emily Lawless provided the match-clinching point via a three frame decision: 14-21, 21-16, 15-13.
Johnson and Davis, as the top pairing, closed the book on the Eagles, grinding out a 24, 26, 21-18, 15-11 victory.
The lone loss to Carson-Newman came at the 2's. Charlyn Miller and Olivia O'Keefe fell to the Eagles' all-time wins leader Abby Struewing, and her partner Sierra Still, 21-18, 21-15.
Match 2: Wayne State 3, Tusculum 2
With the morning win, TU advanced to Wayne State, a Division II program from Nebraska, in the semifinal. The 1's and 5's took care of business in the three sets, but the remaining pairs fell in tight matchups.
Johnson and Davis gutted out a 15-21, 21-19, 17-15 win and the Ward/Webb combo succeeded via 24-22, 6-21, 15-11 scores.
Miller and O'Keefe, in the second flight, dropped a 22-20, 21-18 showing, while Shawel and Bierwagen stumbled 21-12, 21-10.
Hall and Lawless pushed their No. 4 opponents to a three-set result, but came up short 18-21, 21-19, 11-15.
