GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University women's beach volleyball team has five events, two South Atlantic Conference weekends, and a pair of dates with Carson-Newman as part of its 2025 regular season slate.
Emily Kalmink takes over the reins of the Pioneer program in 2025. She will have 11 returners, one transfer, one freshman, and two additional multi-sport athletes at her disposal.
In 2024, the Pioneers finished with a 21-12 mark, including three wins over Division I opponents. TU won its fourth-straight SAC Beach Challenge and earned a seventh-place finish at the AVCA championship event.
Tusculum begins the Kalmink era at a tournament hosted by St. Andrews University. Running from February 21-22, the Pioneers will face Stevenson University, the hosting Knights, and the University of Lynchburg.
TU holds a 2-1 advantage in the series with Mustangs. Stevenson went 24-9 last season, earning a bronze medal at nations with its 4-1 run at the AVCA tournament.
The Pioneers have won all three previous meetings over St. Andrews. In 2024, the Knights went 16-16 and will face a busy beginning to this season. Before its home tournament, SAU has 12 matches on the docket.
Lynchburg and Tusculum have never met in the sand. The Hornets officially went 10-11, finishing second in the silver bracket at the AVCA event in their second year of competition. Lynchburg will have a warm-up tournament at Carson-Newman before the SAU weekend.
Catawba has the honor of hosting the first-ever SAC-sponsored weekend on March 7-8. The Pioneers will face Emmanuel University, Catawba College, Erskine College, and Wingate University in the two-day event. Tusculum will play the remaining SAC team (Carson-Newman University) at a later date.
The Lions had their first season of competition in 2024, in which they did not meet the Pioneers. Emmanuel went 11-20 and 0-3 at the AVCA Championship.
Tusculum has won all five matchups over Catawba. The Catawba Indians will have a new coach in 2025 after going 10-20 and 1-5 at the AVCAs.
Erskine has never won over the Pioneers in five tries. The Flying Fleet went an even 19-19 overall last season, winning the copper bracket at the AVCA Championship.
Wingate will begin its first season of competition in 2025. The Bulldogs will be led by Hannah Givens, a former Wingate indoor player and coach at Lynchburg.
Tusculum will make its home debut on March 11 with a tri-match featuring the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and rematch with Lynchburg.
Chattanooga has won both meetings over the Pioneers in series history. The Mocs finished as the regular season and tournament champions of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) with a 19-10 (9-1 OVC) record. Chattanooga lost in the opening round of the NCAA tournament in its first-ever trip.
Tusculum will head to the Heart of Dixie for the North Alabama Invitational, running from March 14-15. The Pioneers will play Chattanooga for the second time that week before taking on the hosting Lions. On the second day, TU has Missouri State University and Austin Peay State University on the schedule.
North Alabama won the lone meeting over Tusculum back in 2023 by a score of 4-1. The Lions set a single-season win record with a 22-13 mark, earning their mentor the Atlantic Sun Conference Coach of the Year honor. UNA went 2-2 in its league tournament.
Missouri State and Tusculum will meet for the first time in 2025. The Bears finished last season with a 26-7 record after a 10-0 start. As the seventh seed in the Conference USA tournament, MSU went 2-2.
Austin Peay has won three of the four matchups over the Pioneers in series history. The Governors will be under new leadership this season after finishing 14-16 and 1-2 at the ASUN tournament a year ago.
Carson-Newman and Tusculum have a home-and-home series scheduled. The March 19 match will take place in Greeneville, while the contest one week later will be in Jefferson City.
The Pioneers have dominated the Eagles 14-3 in previous meetings. C-N went 20-16 and 2-4 at the AVCA, losing to TU in the season finale.
Tusculum travels to Chattanooga for a tri-match on March 29 with the Mocs and the University of Tennessee at Martin.
UT Martin and TU have not met in previous years. The Skyhawks finished 16-17 (9-1 OVC), falling in the OVC semifinals as the top seed. UTM has two former Pioneers on the roster: Riley Rushing and Olivia O'Keefe.
The second SAC weekend of the season will take place on April 4-5 in Jefferson City, Tennessee.
Tusculum's regular season ends on April 8 with a tri-match at Eastern Kentucky University, joined by Morehead State University.
The Colonels and Pioneers are even through six contests against one another. EKU collected a program-best 16-14 mark with a 0-2 finish in the ASUN tournament.
The Eagles hold a one match margin (4-3) in the series over Tusculum. MSU went 10-15 last season, including a 2-2 stint at the OVC Championship.
The first-ever South Atlantic Conference Beach Volleyball Championship will be held April 11-12. More information will be forthcoming by the league office.
The AVCA Small College Championship in Tavares, Florida is the season-ending destination for the Pioneers once again. The three-day tournament will run from April 17-19 at the Hickory Point Beach Sand Volleyball Complex, the home of the Florida Region of USA Volleyball. Teams from Division II and III will play on the facility's 21 professional-grade lighted beach volleyball courts. In five years at the tournament, Tusculum has gone 13-18, won the bronze bracket twice, added a semifinal finish in the silver, and seventh overall in 2024.
