HICKORY, N.C. --- The Tusculum women's volleyball team avenged its 2021 SAC tournament loss to Lenoir-Rhyne with a sweep of the Bears on Monday (Nov. 7) night, putting LR's NCAA berth in jeopardy. TU has now won five-straight contests, the longest streak of the year.
The Pioneers (14-11) upset the Bears (18-9) by scores of 25-19, 25-22, 28-26, downing LR in straight sets for the first time since the 2019 season.
Ashley Hawkins led Lenoir-Rhyne with 10 kills, while Emmaleigh Allen and Colette Romp trailing with nine scores. Mackenzie Hulsey tallied 25 assists as Hawkins also headed up the service ace column with two points. Libero Bailey Carpenter finished with a match-high 17 digs, ahead of Hulsey (14) and Hawkins (12). Emma Clark did her best work at the net, having a hand in five (three solo, two assists) of the Bears' six blocks.
For the Pioneers, Emiah Burrowes carried the load with 13 kills. Peyton Gash was next up with nine kills, followed by Carli Pigza (8), McKayla Willey (7), Martina Foster (5), Raven Chance (4), and Carly Sosnowski (1). Willey's total tied her career-best, while Chance hit a scorching .571 with no attack errors. Elise Carmichael and Samantha Bunch ran the Tusculum offense, dishing out 22 and 18 assists, respectively. Amiranee Au landed a pair of aces, with Pigza and Carmichael rounding out the column. Defensively, Both Burrowes and Sosnowski collected 13 digs, ahead of Bunch's 12 and Au's 10 (tying her career-high). At the net, Chance is credited with five block assists, while Gash notched a trio. Willey and Burrowes also recorded multiple blocks in the sweep.
Lenoir-Rhyne hit .123 as a team with 34 kills and 19 errors on 122 total attempts. Tusculum hit .254 with 47 kills, 15 errors, and 126 total attacks. The Pioneers led the match in assists (45-33), digs (63-56), and total blocks (8-6), while the Bears held the slight advantage in service aces (5-4).
Tusculum outhit Lenoir-Rhyne in all three sets, highlighted by a .357 to .083 disparity in the opening frame. It was the least contested frame of the contest with only three ties and two lead changes. Gash and Foster led the way with four and three kills, respectively. Foster went 3-for-4, while Willey fired on a 2-for-3 clip. The Bears got out to an early 5-3 edge before TU made its 8-of-9 run. After a Pioneer service error, Lenoir-Rhyne trailed by a single point (13-12). Foster kicked off the four-score spurt, while Au's aces bookended a Willey kill. Sosnowski's dig went back over the net for a kill due to LR miscommunication to hand TU its 24th point. The Bears fought off one set-point before Gash tallied the final kill of the frame.
In set two, four ties and two lead changes were needed for Tusculum to pull out the win. Burrowes stepped up big in the second frame, landing a match-best nine kills. Her teammates were responsible for the remaining seven. Foster and Willey tag-teamed a block to set the tone. Lenoir-Rhyne was forced to call an early timeout, down 9-5. TU had rallied for five points in a six score stretch, highlighted by consecutive kills by Gash. The Pioneer advantage never fell below two the remainder of the frame. LR made a last-minute push, fighting off three set-points, but Willey and Chance clinched the two set lead with a tandem rejection.
Twenty-five points in set three was not enough to decide a winner, featuring eight ties and two lead changes. Out of TU's 18 kills in the frame, 10 were via Pigza (6) and Willey (4). Both blocks for Tusculum came at the hands of Chance and Gash. Burrowes also aided the defense with eight of her digs, followed by Sosnowski's six. Pigza and Carmichael accounted for TU's first four points: two kills by Pigza (assisted by Carmichael), with each recording an ace. The teams jostled the entire frame, as the edge was never greater than three. Tusculum led 24-22 but Lenoir-Rhyne rallied to tie the set at 24-all to require overtime. A freshman Willey was entrusted in a crucial situation, coming up with two kills to put TU ahead. The blocking duo of Gash and Chance came up clutch to make the score 27-26 in the Pioneer favor. Fifth-year Pigza provided the lethal shot to the Bears' SAC run.
Tusculum advances to the SAC Championship semifinal to face archrival and in-state foe Carson-Newman on Friday (Nov. 11) at 4 p.m. The two semifinals and Saturday's (Nov. 12) final will take place at the neutral site in Rock Hill, S.C. (Rock Hill Sports and Event Center).
