GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum women's volleyball team has won seven consecutive matches via sweep, totaling 21-straight sets after the downing of Mars Hill in the regular season finale.
The Pioneers (19-6, 15-3 SAC) wrangled the Lions (13-11, 7-10 SAC) by scores of 28-26, 25-17, 28-26.
Mars Hill was led by Jada Cannon's 14 kills, while Katilyn Grant tallied an errorless 10 kills on a .588 hitting percentage. Jordan Schmucker dished out 32 assists, as Laela Jimenez landed both service aces for the Lions. Jimenez also finished with a team-best 14 digs. The three team blocks were credited to the combination of Cannon, Grant, Schmucker, Nikkayla Stewart, and Skylar Ogden.
Emiah Burrowes tallied a season-high 20 kills on a .357 clip, followed by Whitney Thompson's 10 on a .421 rate. Rounding out the scoring were Aly Freeland (7), Martina Foster (6), Madison Adkins (3), Olivia Crowl (2), and Caley Sosnowski (1). Adkins distributed 43 assists, while six Pioneers recorded an ace: Perri Wood (2), Burrowes, Freeland, Adkins, Sosnowski, and Amiranee Au. Freeland collected a match-best 15 digs, ahead of 11 by Sosnowski. Adkins and Foster were credited with three and two total blocks, respectively.
Mars Hill hit .176 as a team with 43 kills and 22 errors on 119 total attempts. Tusculum hit .284 with 49 kills, 16 errors, and 116 total attacks. The Pioneers led the Lions in assists (48-40), service aces (7-2), digs (44-43), and total blocks (5-3).
The match started with the most-contest set of the evening, featuring 12 ties and five lead changes. Burrowes led the TU offense with seven kills, while the defense contributed three blocks. The entire frame was played within a three-point spread. Mars Hill looked to pull away with its 23-21 advantage before a kill by Burrowes and a solo rejection by Adkins to tie it at 23-all. The Pioneers fought off two more set points with Wood's ace putting TU ahead. Thompson clinched the match lead with her left-handed strike.
Tusculum nearly dominated set two, hitting .360 while holding Mars Hill to an even .000 clip. The Lions netted the first point of the set, but TU rattled off the next four, maintaining the lead for the remainder of the set. The Pioneers extended their 11-7 edge with an 8-1 spurt, but MHU made a late push to bring the deficit back to single digits. A kill by Thompson righted the ship and another Wood ace brought up set-point. An unforced error by Mars Hill handed TU the 2-0 match lead.
Set three also needed overtime to decide a winner, using 10 ties and three lead changes. Offensively, Burrowes tallied eight kills with Thompson going 4-for-5. Sosnowski scooped up seven digs, while the service game landed three aces. Tusculum managed an 18-12 advantage before Mars Hill rallied to within one. The Lions fought off two match-points to force overtime with Burrowes forcing a third. However, back-to-back errors sent TU into a deficit and a point away from the sweep streak ending. Burrowes tied the frame at 26-all ahead of Adkins clutch ace for the lead. Thompson closed out the set with her 10th kill of the match.
Next, Tusculum will prepare for the postseason. With their top-four finish in the South Atlantic Conference standings, the Pioneers will host a quarterfinal match on Monday (Nov. 13) night at 7 p.m. The official seedings are set to be announced Saturday (Nov. 11) night after the completion of the regular season for the remaining teams.
