JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. --- Aubrey Hawkins recorded 13 kills and a .480 hitting percentage in leading the Tusculum College volleyball team to a 3-1 South Atlantic Conference win over arch-rival Carson-Newman University Tuesday night at Holt Fieldhouse. The Pioneers (7-4, 4-3 SAC) won the match by scores of 25-18, 25-18, 20-25, 25-20.
Cassie Born added 11 kills, Laryssa Welch tallied eight kills and hit .320, while Miriah Lewis added seven kills and posted a .429 attack percentage. Setter Hallie Zumack finished with a double-double of 23 assists and 12 digs to go along with her two service aces. Shannon Murphy distributed 14 assists with nine digs, while Melissa Mazur made a match-high 29 digs.
Carson-Newman (1-10, 1-6 SAC) was paced by Natalie Harris' 11 kills, while Marnie Streeter added nine kills for the Eagles.
Tusculum jumped out of the gate on fire hitting a sizzling .394 through the first two sets with only one hitting error. TC hit. .467 in the opening set, including three kills apiece from Hawkins, Born and Rachel Garnett. With the set tied 16-16, Tusculum close out the frame with a 9-2 run which was sparked by two Garnett kills and a Murphy service ace as TC prevailed 25-18.
Just like the first set with the score tied at 16-16, TC went on another 9-2 spurt thanks to three kills from senior Sarah Bouley and a pair of kills from Hawkins during the run as TC won 25-18 to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Eagles avoided the sweep with a 25-20 win in the third set as C-N raced out to a 12-6 advantage and led by as many as 19-12 following blocks from Abbie McFarlane and Natalie Harris. The Pioneers erupted for six straight points including three kills from Born and a Zumack ace to trim the deficit to 19-18. But after a C-N timeout, the Eagles closed out the frame with a 6-3 run to cut the match deficit to 2-1.
Carson-Newman looked to have the momentum as the Eagles vaulted out to a 7-2 lead. But after a TC timeout, the Pioneers erupted for a 12-2 run to take a 14-10 advantage, a lead Tusculum would not surrender. The Eagles got as close as two points on three occasions down the stretch, including 21-19 after a TC attack error. But the Pioneers closed out the win with two Hawkins' kills and a kill by Born on match-point as Tusculum won 25-20 to claim the match.
The Pioneers finished the match with a .247 hitting percentage with 53 kills on 154 attempts and 15 errors, with 14 of those coming in the final two sets combined. TC accounted for 82 digs and five service aces to go along with three total team blocks. C-N added 43 kills and hit .128 with 70 digs and six total blocks.
Tusculum returns to action on Friday night as the Black and Orange travels to Anderson University for a 7 p.m. conference match at the Abney Athletic Center on the Anderson, South Carolina campus.
