GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum women's volleyball team picked up win number 20 on the season after surviving a scare from the Catawba Indians on Monday (Nov. 13) night in the SAC Tournament Quarterfinals.
The Pioneers (20-6) escaped the Indians (12-11) in a five-set thriller: 25-20, 20-25, 25-17, 19-25, 15-5.
Kelcie Love came off the bench to record a team-high 17 kills for Catawba in the loss. Rachel Gonzales also reached double-digits in the category with 10. Dara Kane dished out 38 assists and was one of two Indians to land a pair of service aces, alongside Kary Hales. Five players for Catawba collected digs ranging in the double figures: Riley Hill (24), Riannel Arevalo (19), Gonzales (15), Kane (14), and Hales (10). Both Lauren Bodell and Chloe Danielson were credited with three total blocks.
Aly Freeland and Emiah Burrowes both finished with a match-high 19 kills, followed by Whitney Thompson's 11. Madison Adkins (3), Martina Foster (3), Olivia Crowl (2), and Bailey Parker (1) rounded out the scoring. Adkins distributed 45 assists, while Burrowes (2), Freeland, Foster, Amiranee Au, and Perri Wood tallied the TU aces. Defensively, four Pioneers scooped up double-digit digs: Freeland (18), Adkins (17), Caley Sosnowski (16), and Burrowes (13). Both Foster and Adkins were credited with five total blocks.
Catawba hit .093 as a team with 50 kills and 34 errors on 172 total attempts. Tusculum hit .198 with 58 kills, 21 errors, and 187 total attacks. The Pioneers led the match in assists (54-46) and blocks (9-6) and the Indians tallied more digs (93-73). The teams tied with six service aces apiece.
The first set featured 12 ties and four lead changes, setting the tone for the nail-biting match. Leading the offense were Freeland, Burrowes, and Thompson, all with four kills. The entire frame was played with no team leading by three until TU broke free at 22-19. The foes were tied at 19-all until a pair of Thompson strikes and an unforced Catawba error widened the gap. A kill from Catawba's Bodell ended the run, but Freeland finished the set with three-straight kills.
Set two was less contested, seeing three ties and two lead changes. It was also Catawba's best hitting frame at .250. Once again, the teams played one another tight before TU went on a 4-0 run to lead 13-8. The Indians responded with a 12-2 spurt to swing the momentum into their favor. Freeland had three of her four kills late in the set to keep Tusculum in contention, but Catawba evened the match.
Tusculum led the third set from start to finish, holding the Indians to a -.029 hitting percentage. Freeland led the offense with six kills to seven digs from Sosnowski defensively. Up 10-8, Tusculum started to expand its lead with Au at the service line, including an ace by the junior. Adkins continued the theme. After a kill from her setting position, she went back to serve, and the Indians recorded three consecutive attack errors. Burrowes registered a kill and immediately followed up with an ace to give TU a 21-14 edge. As per the trend, Freeland had late-set heroics, notching three of the final points.
Catawba faced a must-win situation and came through to force a fifth set. The only tie came at 1-all as the scrappy Indians did not back down. Tusculum had four blocks, with three featuring Foster, while five of the team's nine kills came from Burrowes. The Indian defense held strong, recording 24 digs in the frame. Catawba started set four on a 6-2 spurt, maintaining the edge until the Pioneers climbed back within two at 17-15. The visitors responded with a 5-1 push to extend the lead and send the match to a decisive fifth set.
Tusculum came out firing in the final frame, starting on a 5-0 run as the Pioneers led the entire set. Catawba hit -.095 with only three kills compared to TU's errorless .429 clip. Freeland (4) and Burrowes (3) combined for seven of the nine strikes for TU. Thompson and Adkins provided the outliers.
Tusculum travels to the neutral championship site in Rock Hill, South Carolina for Wednesday (Nov. 15) night's matchup against Anderson. First serve in the second semifinal at the Rock Hill Sports and Event Center is scheduled for 7 p.m.
