GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University women's volleyball team will face the Peach Belt Conference's automatic qualifier Augusta in the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional quarterfinal. The No. 3 and No. 6 seeds are scheduled to take the court on Thursday (Dec. 2) at 7:30 p.m.
Taking place in Anderson, South Carolina, the single-elimination southeastern tournament will run from December 2-4. The winner of each of the eight regionals will advance to the final site in Tampa, Florida (Dec. 9-11).
This will be the Pioneers' first NCAA appearance since 2013 and sixth overall in program history. The match against the Jaguars is just the third time that Tusculum has continued play into December.
RECAPPING THE SEASON
Tusculum (20-5) won a share of the program's first SAC regular season title, but were knocked out in the tournament's semifinal by the region's top-seed Lenoir-Rhyne.
Emiah Burrowes has led the Pioneers with 303 kills. Carli Pigza and Raeley Matthews are separated by only 10, with 262 and 252 kills, respectively. Elise Carmichael (567) and Catherine Clingan (327) have run the TU offense as part of a two-setter system, dishing out a combined 894 assists. Carmichael heads up the service ace category with her 60, while Matthews (38), Clingan (25), Carly Sosnowski (23), and Burrowes (18) have reached double-digits.
Defensively, Sosnowski is averaging over five digs per set for a sum of 478. At the net, Pigza is credited with a team-best 41 total blocks. The next three are close behind: Raven Chance (39), Bailey Parker (35), and Emma Johnson (32).
Of note, Carmichael surpassed 1,000 assists and 100 aces, the third Pioneer to ever do so in their career. Sosnowski has notched over 1,000 digs in her collegiate years. Matthews, Burrowes, and Sosnowski have all been named SAC AstroTurf Player of the Week, the first time that three Pioneers have collected the honor since 2012. Burrowes, Pigza, Sosnowski, Carmichael, and Matthews earned all-conference laurels with Burrowes tabbed as Player of the Year. Danielle Marante was also voted the conference Coach of the Year. Sosnowski collected Tusculum's first SAC All-Tournament Team nod since the 2013 season.
Per the last NCAA update on November 21, Carmichael led Division II in aces per set and was eighth in total aces. Sosnowski had a dig per set average that put her 46th nationally. As a team, the Pioneers sat within the top-50 in aces per set (32nd), match win-loss percentage (36th), opponent hitting percentage (45th), and assists per set (50th).
Across the SAC, TU leads the league in aces per set (1.98). The Pioneers are second in win-loss percentage and opponent hitting percentage, while ranked third in assists per set (12.17), hitting percentage (0.216), points per set (16.2), and kills per set (12.79).
LOOKING AHEAD
Augusta (22-8) is on the heels of winning its fourth consecutive Peach Belt Conference Tournament championship. Led by PBC Player of the Year Chloe Allen, the Jaguars earned the league automatic qualifier and were tabbed as the regional's sixth seed. The Georgia team went 4-2 against SAC schools during the fall season and a solid 11-4 in neutral site matches overall. PBC Tournament MVP Kylie Martin led Augusta with 314 kills, followed by Allen (297), Alyssa Frazier (233), and Alexis Diaz-Infante (223). Samantha Zittrauer dished out 661 assists, ahead of 330 by Ally Thees. Holland Martin headed up the ace category with 40, with Kylie Martin just one behind. Three other Jaguars (Zittrauer, Thees, and Kiera Barr) notched an even 30. The two unrelated Martins were the team leaders in the dig column. Holland finished with 567, while Kylie scooped up 318. A trio tallied at least 75 blocks for Augusta: Allen (79), Frazier (77), and Diaz-Infante (75).
Links to live stats and video for Tusculum University athletic events can be found through tusculumpioneers.com.
ATTENDANCE POLICIES
Anderson, the host of the regional, encourages social distancing and masks. However, they are not required.
TICKETS
Tickets will be sold on-site only. All-session passes, good for the entire three-day tournament, are $20 for adults and $10 for students, children, military personnel, and seniors (60+). Daily tickets will also be sold for $10 and $5, respectively. Large groups may contact either Bert Epting (bepting@andersonuniversity.edu) or Matthew Finley (mfinley@andersonuniversity.edu).
2021 NCAA Women's Volleyball Southeast Regional
Abney Athletic Center | Anderson, S.C.
Thursday, December 2, 2021
Game 1: No. 1 Lenoir-Rhyne vs. No. 8 Francis Marion, 12 PM
Game 2: No. 4 Wingate vs. No. 5 Flagler, 2:30 PM
Game 3: No. 2 Anderson vs. No. 7 Mars Hill, 5 PM
Game 4: No. 3 Tusculum vs. No. 6 Augusta, 7:30 PM
Friday, December 3, 2021
Game 5: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 5 PM
Game 6: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 7:30 PM
Saturday, December 4, 2021
Game 7: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 5 PM (Region Championship)
