GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum women's volleyball team looked crisp in its first home match in over a year and came out firing on all cylinders against Lincoln Memorial.
The Pioneers (1-1, 1-1 SAC) won the match by scores of 25-13, 25-12, 25-16 over the Railsplitters (1-2, 1-2 SAC).
Lincoln Memorial collected six kills from Gabriela Abreu and five from both Yileen Ng He and Katie Cardenas. Ng He was the only one of the three to hit in the positive. Emily Walter dished out 15 assists, while Finley Sims collected six and a team-best two service aces. Abreu and Sarah Jones dug up nine attack attempts, followed by six from Walter.
Emiah Burrowes finished with a match-high nine kills, just ahead of Peyton Gash (8) and Carli Pigza (7). The latter did not commit an attack error for a .389 hitting percentage. In her first collegiate match since 2018, Lydia Collins went 2-for-2 on her swings. Catherine Clingan and Elise Carmichael tag-teamed the setting duties, racking up 16 and 14 assists, respectively. Collins led the efforts at the line, landing a trio of aces. Gabby Gray and Clingan rounded out the column with two each.
Defensively, Carly Sosnowski was flying around the court, tallying 13 digs. Carmichael (8), Burrowes (7), and Gray (6) were next up. Raven Chance influenced play at the net with her three total blocks (one solo, two assists) and Pigza assisted on a pair as well.
Lincoln Memorial hit -.029 as a team with 24 kills and 27 errors in 102 total attempts. Tusculum hit an electric .295 with 35 kills, nine errors and 88 total attacks. The Pioneers led the Railsplitters in assists (33-23), aces (7-3), digs (40-39), and total blocks (5-3).
Peyton Gash started the match with two straight kills to gain early momentum for the Pioneers. Lincoln Memorial crept back in it, trailing 6-5. TU responded with a six-point run, including a pair of kills from Pigza and a block assist alongside Chance. LMU kept breaking up spurts by Tusculum, who eventually led by 13 (22-9). The Railsplitters got three consecutive points to get some sparks going, but a thunderous kill by Burrowes squelched any chance at a comeback. Collins clinched the set via an ace. Tusculum led from start to finish in the frame, hitting .333 as a team with only two attack errors.
Set two was similar to the first, TU runs divided up by a singular LMU point. There were four ties and two lead changes within the first 10 scores of the set, but the Pioneers ran away with it after taking the 6-5 advantage. Streaks included four, seven, three, and three points, respectively. The biggest spurt was served up by Collins, who landed an ace, and two kills by Gray. The set ended with a kill by Collin, an ace from Clingan, and a Burrowes swing. The first TU service error did not occur until the 22-12 mark and the Pioneers hit a scorching .393 in the set.
The final set was the closest of the three, but was still won by a nine point margin. For the first time, LMU earned the opening score, but an attack error and a Gray service ace swung the lead right back. This was the only lead change of the set and the remaining tie happened at 2-2. TU rattled off four consecutive points to lead 16-10 and the Railsplitters responded with the same. A Tusculum timeout extinguished the flames and back-to-back-to-back miscues by LMU stretched the lead back to five. The visitor's final point of the match was a kill by Abreu at the 19-16 mark. Tusculum closed it out with three kills by Pigza and sealed it on a block by Pigza and Collins.
Tusculum hits the road to face Catawba for a Friday (Mar. 12) night showdown, set to begin at 6:00 p.m.
