GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum women's volleyball team continued its hot start to the South Atlantic Conference season with a sweep of Coker on Tuesday (Sept. 12) night in Greeneville.
The Pioneers (7-3, 3-0 SAC) slithered past the Cobras (2-7, 0-2 SAC) for a three-set victory by scores of 25-13, 25-15, 25-21.
Chelsey Blume and Lauren Loveday tallied five kills apiece to lead Coker offensively. Ada Kuday dished out 15 assists, while Laila Hixon scooped up 10 digs. Four Cobras participated in the two blocks: Blume, Elif Hazar Kayan, Breyon Forrest, and Adriana Velez.
Aly Freeland landed a collegiate-best 19 kills on a .548 hitting percentage. Emiah Burrowes also reached double-digit kills with 10, joined by McKayla Willey (4), Martina Foster (2), Bailey Parker (2), Madison Adkins (1), Isabella Biesterfeld (1), and Whitney Thompson (1) in the scoring column. Adkins and Mya Lewis shared the setting duties with 19 and 15 assists, respectively. The setters also tallied a pair of aces apiece, while Freeland and Burrowes added one each. Libero Caley Sosnowski finished with her second-straight 20-dig match. Willey and Foster were each credited with three total blocks at the net.
Coker hit an even .000 as a team with 24 kills and 24 errors on 109 total attempts. Tusculum hit .231 with 40 kills, 15 errors, and 108 total attacks. The Pioneers led the Cobras in assists (40-23), service aces (6-0), digs (53-50), and total blocks (6-2).
The Pioneers hit a fiery .393 to start off the night, highlighted by six kills from Freeland and three team blocks. Foster's two kills in the outing came in succinct fashion as the only lead change through the first two sets. Coker kept the deficit within reach (12-10) before an 8-1 spurt overwhelmed the visitors from South Carolina. Tusculum added emphasis by closing out with four-straight points.
Freeland continued with seven errorless kills in the second frame, aided by Burrowes' five kills and Sosnowski's eight digs. TU also averaged .324 in the set offensively. Meanwhile, Coker hit -.111 with just four kills. Four of Tusculum's first six points came via the fifth-year Burrowes. The Pioneers created separation towards the end of the frame, notching seven of the final nine tallies. The two points for the Coker were on TU service miscues.
Set three was least productive for the Pioneer offense, but six Freeland kills and seven Sosnowski digs clinched the sweep. By far the closest frame, it featured four ties and one lead change. To start, TU went on an 8-1 stretch, but the Cobras closed the gap. Once again, the Pioneers built an advantage and Coker rallied. The final stalemate was at 19-all before Tusculum finished strong, winning six-of-eight.
Tusculum hits the road for a pair of nearby matches, starting with archrival Carson-Newman on Friday (Sept. 15). First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. in Jefferson City.
