NEWBERRY, S.C. --- The Tusculum women's volleyball team rebounded from last night's loss with a fury, blanking the Wolves of Newberry College in convincing fashion.
The Pioneers (7-7, 5-4 SAC) won the match by scores of 25-20, 25-19, 25-18 over the Wolves (4-9, 2-7 SAC). With the victory, the Pioneers have surpassed last season's win total, both in conference play and overall.
Kylee Kanealey and Toni-Anne Whitlow led Newberry with nine kills apiece and both hit over .300. Avery Webb dished out 15 assists, while four players for the Wolves registered a service ace. The dig category was occupied by 11 from both Morgan Walter and Sydney Diaz. Whitlow finished with two block assists.
Emiah Burrowes tied her career high with 18 kills, while also eclipsing her previous top mark in hitting percentage at .441. Gabby Gray hit .500 with seven kills and no errors on 14 swings. Catherine Clingan led the setting duo, collecting 18 assists, while Elise Carmichael notched 17. At the service line, Clingan tied her career high four aces in the match, aided by two from both Carmichael and Carly Sosnowski.
Defensively, Sosnowski dug up 19 attacks, while Gray racked up nine digs. At the net, Taylor Blythe and Aubrey Hawkins teamed up to record two block assists apiece. Tatum Thornton is credited with the lone solo block in the match.
Newberry hit .144 as a team with 31 kills and 16 attack errors in 104 total attempts. Tusculum hit .275, the second-highest mark of the season, with 39 kills, 11 errors and 102 total attacks. The Pioneers led the Wolves in assists (38-29), aces (11-4), and total blocks (3-2). The teams each collected 45 digs.
Tusculum started slow out of the gate, trailing the Wolves 8-3 before Head Coach Danielle Marante wisely called a timeout. The Pioneers rattled off five straight points to tie the first set at 8. Newberry stretched its lead to four (14-10) before TU rallied once more to tie the frame at 16. The Black and Orange scored nine of the last 13 points to claim the set 25-20.
The second set was more of the same, with Newberry taking the early lead before the Pioneers stormed back. The Wolves claimed the first three points of the frame, but never led again once the teams tied at four. Tusculum stretched the advantage to six points three times, including the final mark of 25-19. The set was closed out by consecutive kills by Carly Pigza, assisted by Carmichael.
The third frame was a nice change of pace as the Pioneers were able to claim the first two points via aces from Carmichael. Tusculum then trailed the Wolves 7-5 before going on an offensive tear. The run featured nine straight points, including three aces from Clingan and four kills off of the right hand of Burrowes. The freshman registered the final kill for the Pioneers on the afternoon to tally the 23rd point. The Wolves had an attack error and a service error to clinch the match for Tusculum, finalizing the score at 25-18.
Tusculum once again has the week off in preparation for a SAC weekend series. The Pioneers play host to Coker Friday night and nationally-ranked Wingate on Saturday afternoon.