JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University women's volleyball team finished out the annual SAC/PBC Crossover on Saturday (Oct. 22) with a win against Georgia College before dropping a decision to USC Aiken.
The Black and Orange (9-11) returns to South Atlantic Conference play with a Tuesday night (Oct. 25) short trip to Lincoln Memorial. First serve versus the Railsplitters (8-17, 4-10 SAC) is set for 7 p.m.
Match 1: Tusculum 3, Georgia College 0
The Pioneers started off day two with a three-set sweep over the Bobcats (10-13), 25-19, 27-25, 25-13.
Mary Kate Kotzin tallied seven kills on a .333 hitting percentage to lead the Peach Belt squad. Riese Johnson dished out 15 assists, while Rachel Machovec landed the lone service ace. Defensively, Alanis Bernis scooped up 10 digs and, at the net, Brooke Roberts is credited with three total blocks (two solo, one assist).
Both Peyton Gash and Emiah Burrowes recorded 12 kills in the sweep over the Bobcats. Gash hit .429, while the latter fired on a .346 clip. Carli Pigza (9), Martina Foster (8), McKayla Willey (4), and Raven Chance (3) rounded out the scoring, highlighted by Foster's .500 hitting rate. Elise Carmichael led the setting duo with 22 assists, followed by 13 from Samantha Bunch. Bunch collected a pair of aces, joined by Burrowes and Carmichael. Burrowes finished with a match-best 12 digs, one more than Carly Sosnowski's 11. Chance led all players with four block assists, while Gash and Pigza both notched three assists.
Georgia College finished the match with a .137 hitting percentage with 30 kills and 17 attack errors in 95 total attempts. Tusculum totaled 48 kills, 15 errors, and 105 swings for a .314 hitting clip. The Pioneers led the Bobcats in assists (41-27), aces (4-1), digs (43-34), and total blocks (7-5).
The foes looked evenly matched immediately out of the gate, keeping within a point up until the 11-11 tie. Tusculum took off at that point after a service error, a kill by Burrowes, and a block from Chance and Gash. Burrowes played a part in the late spurt for the Pioneers, adding a late strike or an ace. Gash and Chance combined for the set-clinching block once again.
The second set was an even tighter affair, needing extra points to win by the minimum. Georgia College retook the lead at 7-6 before Tusculum rattled off five consecutive ticks. Foster landed back-to-back kills to give the Pioneers an 11-7 edge. Steadily closing the gap, the Bobcats faced an 18-17 deficit. The Peach State squad had to call a timeout at 21-17 to slow down TU. Chance landed the 24th point as the Bobcats stared down multiple set-points (24-20). Three-straight unforced Pioneer errors pulled the score even at 24-all. Burrowes earned TU another set-point, but an attack error drew the score even once again. Gash regained the advantage with a kill, while she and Foster ended the threat with a tag-team stuff.
Tusculum won the opening three scores via kills by Foster and Pigza with Carmichael adding an ace. The biggest blow to Georgia College was a 5-0 run by the Pioneers. Bunch tallied her two aces in the stretch. TU extended the advantage to 10 (19-9) courtesy of kills by three Pioneers, along with unforced Bobcat errors. Gash ended her excellent day with three-straight kills to seal the sweep.
Match 2: USC Aiken 3, Tusculum 0
The service game by the Pacers was too much for the Pioneers in the event's conclusion, as USC Aiken won its 15th match of the season 26-24, 25-16, 25-16.
USC Aiken posted a .236 hitting percentage as the Peach Belt team finished with 40 kills, 14 attack errors, and 110 attempts. Tusculum tallied a .181 clip with 37 kills and 18 errors on 105 attempts. The Pacers won the assist (38-36) and ace (10-1) battle, while the Pioneers collected one more block (7-6). The teams tied with 47 digs each.
Two Pacers notched nine kills apiece: Anna Sommer and Sadie McKay. Mallory Barash registered 30 assists and was among five to land an ace for USC Aiken: Emily Lammers (3), Abbey Schad (2), McKay (2), Kari Mercer (2), and Barash (1). Both Mercer and Barash reached double-figures in digs with 13 and 12, respectively. Schad had a hand in nearly half of the Pacers' blocks after being credited with five assists.
Gash led the Pioneers once again with nine kills, firing on a .529 clip without an error. Willey added seven in the effort as well. Carmichael (16), Bunch (8), and Madison Adkins (8) were responsible for the majority of the assists in the nightcap. Bunch tallied the lone ace for TU, while Sosnowski rehashed a match-best dig performance with 15. Foster and Gash each recorded a trio of blocks in the finale.
