ROCK HILL, S.C. --- The third-seeded Tusculum women's volleyball team upset the second-seeded Anderson Trojans on Wednesday (Nov. 15) night at the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center. Madison Adkins became the 13th setter in program history to record her 1,000th career assist in the sweep.
Thursday (Nov. 16) night's championship match will be the first appearance in the title game since 2012. Tusculum will face Wingate, the top team in the conference and region, at the Rock Hill venue at 7 p.m. in search of the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
The Pioneers (21-6) eclipsed the Trojans (25-5) in a straight-set sweep: 27-25, 25-19, 25-20.
Anderson was led by 10 kills from Jaelyn Grimm on a .348 hitting percentage, while Rylie Sargent and Kaitlyn Barrett both added eight strikes. Jenna Long dished out 31 assists, whereas Lindsay McCurley and Katy Smith landed the Trojan service aces. Long also finished with a team-best 15 digs, ahead of Hannah Neff (12) and McCurley (10). Sargent had a hand in two of AU's three team blocks.
Emiah Burrowes helped cement her legacy at Tusculum with her standout performance in the semifinals. The outside hitter recorded 18 kills on a .341 clip to head up the offense. Whitney Thompson was errorless in 21 attempts, landing nine kills for a .429 rate. Aly Freeland (8), Martina Foster (7), Olivia Crowl (5), and Adkins (2) rounded out the scoring, with Foster's coming on a .462 onslaught. Adkins registered 45 assists on her way to 1,000 and was one of four Pioneers to land an ace: Freeland, Foster, and Amiranee Au. Defensively, Caley Sosnowski was a floor general, popping up a match-best 19 digs. Burrowes rounded out her double-double with 13 digs, tied by Freeland's total. Crowl dominated Anderson at the net, taking part in seven rejections (two solo, five assists). Adkins (4), Freeland (3), and Foster (2) contributed to the block total.
Anderson hit .158 as a team with 42 kills and 21 errors on 133 total attempts. Tusculum hit .285 with 49 kills, 12 errors, and 130 total attacks. The Pioneers led the match in assists (46-38), service aces (4-2), and total blocks (9-3), while the Trojans tallied more digs (61-57). TU recorded at least two blocks in every set.
The first set lived up to the booking, featuring 13 ties and seven lead changes. With a 7-3 lead, Anderson got out to a strong start before the TU defense played a factor. Tusculum's 5-0 run was kicked off by back-to-back blocks, forcing an Anderson timeout. The Trojans responded with an identical spurt as Tusculum needed a pause. After the Adkins and Crowl block at 14-13, neither team created any separation beyond two scores. Anderson fought off Tusculum's set point with a pair of Grimm kills to create its own set-clinching moment. However, Foster and Freeland took over. Foster tied the frame with a kill before the duo blocked an attack by Grimm. Freeland finished the process with her own kill.
Set two started out competitive in the early outset with five ties and two lead changes. Down 7-5, Tusculum went on a 7-1 rally, including four Trojan miscues. The Pioneer defense held AU to a .024 hitting percentage, while three service aces fell for Tusculum. TU's lead grew to as many as six (22-16) after Freeland's ace. Anderson got back three in a row, but Tusculum responded in kind to clinch a 2-0 match lead.
Tusculum never relented the edge in the final frame, allowing just one tie at 3-all. The Pioneer offense hit .500 (19-2/34) as Burrowes landed eight kills and Thompson went 5-for-9 with no errors. Defensively, Crowl was credited with three blocks, two of them solo. A 7-1 run put TU ahead 16-9, all but sealing the victory. The Pioneers garnered three of the next four as the edge grew to nine (19-10). Anderson was able to get within five and fought off three match-points, but Burrowes sent the Pioneers on to fight for a championship.