BRISTOL, Tenn. --- Cassie Born recorded 13 kills and 13 digs, while Shannon Murphy dished out 43 assists in Tusculum's 3-1 win over King Tuesday night at the Student Center in non-conference volleyball action.
The Pioneers (12-9) won the match by scores of 24-26, 25-19, 25-21, 25-19 to sweep the season series over the Tornado (9-10) and snap a three-match losing streak.
Tusculum finished the night with 53 kills and a .242 hitting percentage, while limiting King to hit .141 on the night including 28 attack errors with eight of those coming via the block.
TC's Laryssa Welch added 11 kills, three blocks and a .375 hitting percentage, while Mariah Lewis posted 10 kills and hit .381 on the evening. Murphy posted nine digs, five blocks and two service aces including one on match point.
King's Becca Huddleston led all players with her 14 kills to go along with her 11 digs. KU's Cathy Scaniffe tallied 12 kills, while Remi Thele had 10 kills. Abby Anderson dished out 46 assists, while Amy Serowski had 26 digs and two aces.
The Tornado finished the evening with nine service aces, while the Pioneers posted four with one in each set.
In the first set, King rallied from a 21-18 deficit and closed out the frame with an 8-3 run to win the opening stanza 26-24.
Tusculum bounced back in the second as TC hit for a sizzling .372, including five kills each from Welch, Born and Sabrina Schleuger as the Pioneers prevailed 25-19. TC put together an 8-3 run to spark the Pioneer win in the second set.
In the third set, Tusculum rallied from 12-6 deficit and used a 10-1 run to move out to a 17-13 lead. TC pushed its advantage out to 20-16, before the Tornado scored four of the next five points to cut the Tusculum lead to one at 21-20. TC responded with a 4-1 run of its own including a kill each by Murphy, Aubrey Hawkins and Erin Carmody as TC won 25-21 to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Pioneers capitalized on a 13-2 run in the fourth set to secure a 25-19 win to clinch the match.
Murphy continues her quest to become only the sixth player in program history with 2,000 career assists. She needs three more helpers to join that exclusive club.
Tusculum returns to South Atlantic Conference play on Friday as the Pioneers host Lenoir-Rhyne for a 7 p.m. match. Friday's match is TC's Dig Pink initiative with all proceeds going towards the Niswonger Children's Hospital.