GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum women's volleyball team has won three of its last four matches and 10th overall in its seventh sweep of the season, taking down Emory & Henry on Tuesday (Oct. 3) night.
The Pioneers (10-5, 6-2 SAC) defended home court against the invading Wasps (4-10, 1-6 SAC) by scores of 26-24, 25-20, 25-16.
Brianna Hogan led Emory & Henry with nine kills, just ahead of Sophia Kaiser's seven. Payton Rolfsen notched 27 assists and a match-high three service aces. Both Libby Bickelhaupt and Rolfsen reached double-digits in digs with 12 and 11, respectively. Hogan and Gracyn Miller were credited with three total blocks (one solo, two assists).
Emiah Burrowes dominated the match with 17 kills on a .343 hitting percentage. McKayla Willey came off the bench to record seven kills on a .462 clip. Rounding out the scoring were Aly Freeland (6), Martina Foster (4), Olivia Crowl (3), Madison Adkins (2), and Taylor Sanders (1). The latter's point was the first of her collegiate career. Adkins dished out 30 assists, while Freeland (2), Burrowes (1), Amiranee Au (1), and Caley Sosnowski (1) landed the Pioneer aces. Defensively, Sosnowski finished with a match-best 16 digs, ahead of 12 by Freeland. Both Crowl and Adkins were credited with career-highs in blocks with seven and six, respectively.
Emory & Henry hit .036 as a team with 31 kills and 27 errors on 112 total attempts. Tusculum hit .234 with 40 kills, 15 errors, and 107 total attacks. The Pioneers led the match in assists (37-30) and total blocks (12-5), while the Wasps tallied more service aces (6-5) and digs (48-46).
In the tightest frame of the match, which featured 12 ties and six lead changes, Tusculum narrowly came out victorious. Burrowes racked up nine of the 14 kills, while Sosnowski tallied seven digs. TU started the match with back-to-back kills, but consecutive errors brought the Wasps even. The Pioneers went on a 4-0 run, but E&H returned with a 5-1 spurt to take its first lead of the match at 11-10. Emory & Henry pushed its lead to three (17-14) after a second 5-1 jolt, forcing a Tusculum timeout. After Willey was subbed in, the Pioneers switched gears. The Wasps were the first to 24, but three-straight scores (including two by Burrowes) swung the match lead to the home team.
Set two was all about the TU defense. Emory & Henry was held to a -.143 hitting rate as Tusculum notched six blocks. Crowl and Adkins assisted on four and three, respectively. However, the Pioneers had to rally from an early deficit after the Wasps started the set with three consecutive aces. The visitors managed to hang on to a sizable advantage until a 5-0 run gave TU a 12-11 advantage. E&H responded with its own five-point spurt to nullify the Pioneers'. After a timeout, Tusculum scored nine of the next 10 points to solidify the 2-0 match lead.
The Tusculum offense in the final frame powered it to a sweep. Hitting, .333 as a team, Burrowes added five kills, while Willey went 4-for-7 on swings. Holding up the back row was Sosnowski with eight digs. TU never trailed in set three after beginning with kills by Crowl and Burrowes. Emory & Henry managed three early ties, but the Pioneers took off after the 5-5 deadlock. Tusculum went on runs of 6-1 and 7-0 to reach a double-digit advantage. The Wasps were able to tack on a few points at the end, but the lead was too great.
Tusculum makes a journey towards the coast to look for the season sweep of Coker on Friday (Oct. 6). First serve from the DeLoach Center is scheduled for 7 p.m.
