WISE, Va. --- The Tusculum women's volleyball team picked up its 15th win and 12th sweep of the season on Friday (Oct. 27) night in the Commonwealth of Virginia. TU maintained the lead from start to finish across the match.
The Pioneers (15-6, 11-3 SAC) blanked the Cavaliers (9-11, 2-10 SAC) by scores of 25-17, 25-18, 25-19.
UVA Wise was led by 10 kills from Kaylee Scarce, while Lily Gutierrez (10) and Piper Suddeth (9) combined for 19 assists. Abigail Curtis was responsible for the Cavaliers' lone service ace. Three players reached double-digit digs for the home team: Kamryn Livingston (13), Scarce (10), and Curtis (10). Serina Petersen participated in three of the four blocks for UVA Wise.
For Tusculum, Aly Freeland and Emiah Burrowes led the scoring with 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Aiding in the offense were Whitney Thompson (4), Lauren Weaver (3), Madison Adkins (2), Jordyn Roderick (2), Olivia Crowl (2), Bailey Parker (2), Isabella Biesterfeld (1), and Martina Foster (1). Adkins dished out 37 of the team's 40 assists, while she and Burrowes landed the aces. Au finished with a match-high 19 digs, ahead of 14 by Caley Sosnowski. Burrowes was able to record a double-double with her 10 digs. Crowl and Adkins were both credited with three block assists as Thompson and Foster garnered a pair each.
UVA Wise hit .008 as a team with 24 kills and 23 errors on 121 total attempts. Tusculum hit .74 with 40 kills, 19 errors, and 121 total attacks. The Pioneers led the Cavaliers in assists (40-23), service aces (2-1), digs (65-57), and total blocks (7-4).
Tusculum started the match with seven-straight points to set the tone of the evening. The lead never dropped below five at any point during the remainder of the frame. In the frame, Freeland tallied five kills, while Au (8) and Sosnowski (6) combined for 14 of the 19 digs. Defensively, Crowl assisted in all three blocks as TU held UVA Wise to an even .000 hitting percentage.
The only two ties of the match occurred within the first four points of set two. Burrowes led the Tusculum offense with six kills, while the defense stood strong. Au recorded seven digs as both Foster and Thompson took part in a pair of blocks, holding the Cavaliers to a negative hitting clip. A 5-1 TU run provided early separation, kicked off by consecutive kills by Freeland. UVA Wise started to close the gap, but Burrowes took over to clinch the 2-0 match lead.
Set three saw eight Pioneers record at least one kill, while the final frame was the only positive hitting set for the Cavaliers. Tusculum took a solid 3-0 lead, including kills from Weaver and Adkins. A 6-1 spurt by TU grew the advantage to six (9-3) and forced a timeout by the home team. UVA Wise was able to respond with a 5-1 run to close the gap to just three but Tusculum fought back with an immediate 7-2 rally, started by Weaver's solo rejection. Three of the final four scores went the way of the Pioneers, with a kill by Biesterfeld and back-to-back points by Roderick.
Tusculum continues its lengthy road trip with a stop at Lincoln Memorial on Halloween. First serve between the Pioneers and Railsplitters is scheduled for 7 p.m.
