GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Megan Hasse recorded 13
kills and 10 digs, while Caitlyn Dean tallied 33 digs to lead the
Tusculum volleyball team to a three-set sweep over visiting Mars
Hill Tuesday night in South Atlantic Conference action.
Tusculum (18-6, 12-4 SAC) rattles off its fifth consecutive win,
while completing the season-sweep over the Lions (13-13, 6-10
SAC). The Pioneers won the match by scores of 25-23, 25-20,
29-27. With the win, coupled with a Lincoln Memorial loss at
Carson-Newman, the Pioneers take over sole possession of second
place in the league standings.
TC setter Ashley Sarmiento finished with 41 assists, six digs and three blocks, while Kassie Voelker and Sam Underwood posted nine kills each in the victory. Underwood also contributed 19 digs, while Bailee Price recorded 13 digs.
Mars Hill was led by Marissa Wixson's double-double of 15 kills and 11 digs, while Hannah Wilson also accounted for a twin-killing with her 19 assists and 19 digs in the loss. Becca Smith posted a double-dozen with 12 assists and 12 digs, while Maggie Murphy led the MHC defense with 20 digs.
Tusculum led wire-to-wire in the opening two sets to take a 2-0 advantage. In the first set, the Pioneers posted a .244 hitting percentage, led by Hasse's six kills and .357 attack percentage. TC jumped out to a 10-4 advantage following a Hasse kill, TC would increase that lead to 14-7. With TC leading 22-15, the Lions mounted a comeback, using a 6-1 run to trim the deficit to 23-21 following a Toni Cole kill and back-to-back TC hitting errors. Following a Tusculum timeout, the Pioneers got a kills by Voelker and Hasse to close out the set at 25-23.
Tusculum led by as many as 18-10 in the second set as the trio of Voelker, Underwood and Hasse tallied four kills each during the frame. Mars Hill could get the margin down to three on two occasions down the stretch, but kills by Underwood and Danae Stauffer lifted the Pioneers to a 25-20 decision.
In the third frame, the lead changed hands six times, along with 15 ties. Tusculum trailed 12-8, following a block by Wixson and a kill by Kaleigh Sutherland. After a TC timeout, Tusculum responded with a 9-2 spurt to move ahead 17-14 thanks to back-to-back blocks by Alyssa Raterman and Sarmiento.
With TC leading 19-16, Mars Hill bounced back to take a 22-21 advantage after a 6-2 run as Sutherland and Wixson posted consecutive blocks. Trailing 23-22, TC got a Stauffer kill and a MHC attack error to get to match point. Tusculum never trailed in the final moments of the frame and with the score tied at 27-all, Hasse accounted for the final two points as he posted a kill and won the match with a service ace.
Tusculum finished the night with a .199 hitting percentage, while limiting Mars Hill to hits .094.
Dean's 33 kills are the third most in school history for a three-set match and just two behind the 35 posted she posted against Augusta State in 2010 and Johanna Ratliff's 1998 tally against LMU.
The Pioneers continue their three-match home-stand on Friday to close out the regular season. TC will host Brevard for a 7 p.m. match at Pioneer Arena as the program will honor its four seniors (Melanie Gibson, Bailee Price, Alyssa Raterman and Sam Underwood).
- TC -
