AIKEN, S.C. --- The Tusculum volleyball split a pair of matches in day one action of the 2017 South Atlantic Conference / Peach Belt Conference Crossover event which was being held at the USC Aiken Convocation Center.
Tusculum opened the day with a 3-0 sweep over Augusta, but dropped a 3-2 marathon contest against host USC Aiken. The Pioneers (11-7) will be in action again on Saturday as Tusculum will be at Greenwood, South Carolina for day two of the SAC/PBC Crossover.
Tusculum 3, Augusta 0
Tusculum's Cassie Born recorded 15 kills, while teammate Laryssa Welch accounted for eight kills and a .667 hitting percentage in the Pioneers' three-set sweep over Augusta.
Tusculum won the match by scores of 25-18, 25-16, 25-22 as the Pioneers posted a .274 team hitting percentage.
Setter Shannon Murphy tallied a double-double with 35 assists and 10 digs, while Sabrina Schleuger contributed six kills and nine digs. Kayli Dempster had 20 digs, while Alyssa Rojas finished with 10.
Augusta's Savanna Gonzales had 11 kills, while McKenzey Beck finished with 10 kills, eight digs and two blocks.
USC Aiken 3, Tusculum 2
USC Aiken's Allie Smith posted 14 kills, while Christine Carroll and Julia Foster added 13 each in the Pacers' five-set win over Tusculum
USCA (16-2) won the match by scores of 27-25, 23-25, 21-25, 25-20, 15-10 to go perfect on the day with its second win of the afternoon.
USCA setter Emily Teelon contributed 56 assists and 10 digs in the win, while Rebecca Martinez and Alie Smith tallied 38 and 20 digs, respectively.
Born led the Pioneers with her 16 kills and 14 digs, while Welch finished with 10 kills, four digs and five blocks in the loss. Mariah Lewis added eight kills and five blocks, while Schleuger added seven kills and 15 digs. Dempster led all Pioneers with her 20 digs.