DUE WEST, S.C. --- The Tusculum University women's volleyball team opened its 2023 season by tying the third-most service aces in a match against Erskine, while graduate Emiah Burrowes became the ninth member of the 1,000-kill club versus Lee. The 19 aces were the most for the Pioneers since 2009.
The Black and Orange (1-1) returns to the Erskine campus for its tournament finale on Saturday (Sept. 2) against Clark Atlanta. First serve against the Panthers is scheduled for 12:30 p.m.
Match 1: Tusculum 3, Erskine 0
The Pioneers kicked off the two-day event against the hosting Flying Fleet (0-1) with a straight-set sweep (25-21, 25-11, 25-18).
Erskine's Ryleigh Taylor finished with a match-best seven kills, followed by Ali Angell's five. Both Lena Mykins and Meghan DeWalt tallied seven assists. Four players were responsible for the Fleet's service aces: Mykins, DeWalt, Kimmy Stiltner, and Megan Thees. Taylor also recorded a team-high seven digs on defense.
Tusculum had four players notched four kills apiece: Aly Freeland, Emiah Burrowes, Martina Foster, and Whitney Thompson. Madison Adkins got the nod as the starting setter, dishing out 11 assists, ahead of nine from Mya Lewis. Adkins (5), Freeland (5), Burrowes (5), and Foster (4) landed the near-record 19 aces for the Pioneers. Adkins also finished with a match-high eight digs, one more than both Caley Sosnowski and Freeland. Foster racked up a trio of block assists to head up the net protection.
Erskine finished the match with a .024 hitting percentage with 23 kills and 21 attack errors in 83 total attempts. Tusculum totaled 24 kills, six errors, and 64 swings for a .281 hitting clip. The Pioneers led the Fleet in assists (24-20), aces (19-4), digs (36-33), and total blocks (6-0).
TU hit .400 in the opening frame, spurred by a 3-for-4 start by Freeland and 2-of-4 by Thompson. The Pioneers got out to an early, narrow lead before Erskine rallied. Tusculum flipped the script behind Freeland's serve as the turning point, never relenting the lead again in the set.
The Tusculum defense held the Fleet to a -.161 clip, while the service rotation landed eight of its aces, highlighted by all five of Burrowes', including a span of four-straight. TU shot out to an early lead, forcing an Erskine timeout within the first 10 points. The brief pause hardly slowed down the fiery Pioneers as the Fleet never truly challenged the score again.
The Pioneers had their best offensive output to close out the match at a .409 rate. Foster stepped up on all sides of the ball, recording all three block assists, two aces, and three kills on four swings. Erskine kept the set within reach early on before Tusculum started scoring in bunches, escalated by service runs from Lewis, Freeland, and Foster.
Match 2: Lee 3, Tusculum 1
The Flames (1-0) hit at a much more efficient rate than the Pioneers to pull out the four-set win (25-15, 22-25, 25-23, 25-19).
Lee posted a .240 hitting percentage as the Flames finished with 49 kills, 19 attack errors, and 125 attempts. Tusculum tallied a .109 clip with 39 kills and 25 errors on 128 attempts. Lee led the match in assists (46-33), digs (56-49), and total blocks (8-6), while the foes tied with seven aces apiece.
For Lee, Abby Stroh collected 15 kills on a .393 rate, with two teammates notching nine (Sophia Lippert and Allie Scurlock). Ashton Middleton dished out 20 assists, seconded by 11 from Savannah Jennings. Stroh, McKenna Rocco, and Kamryn Halpin each landed a pair of aces. Defensively, Middleton and Halpin recorded 13 digs, while both Lippert and Grace Mazzocca were credited with five total blocks.
Freeland became the first Pioneer to reach double-digit kills this season, tallying 11, two more than Burrowes. Christina Jackson also contributed a solid six offensive points in the effort. Adkins continued her day with 18 assists, joined by 10 from Lewis. Adkins and Freeland landed a pair of aces to bring their season totals to seven apiece. Sosnowski stepped in as libero in the day's second match, upping her team-best dig total by 16. Burrowes nearly had a double-double thanks to an 11-dig match. At the net, Foster had a hand in five of the team's six blocks (one solo, four assists).
