--- Sixth-seeded Anderson University posted a .474 hitting
percentage in the fifth set to lead the Trojans to a 3-2 upset over
No. 2-seed Tusculum College in a semifinal round match of the 2013
Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Volleyball Tournament at
Eleazer Arena on the Newberry College campus.
Anderson (18-13) advances to its first-ever SAC Tournament final as
the Trojans will face top-seeded and No. 9 nationally-ranked
Wingate University on Sunday at 2 p.m. The winner will earn the
league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament.
Tusculum (21-10), who entered this weekend's action as the
third-ranked team in the NCAA II Southeast Region, will learn its
postseason fate when the 64-team tournament field is announced next
week.
Anderson won Saturday's match by scores of 23-25, 25-23, 26-24,
20-25, 15-7 as the Trojans snap a 12-match losing streak to the
Pioneers and record their first win over TC since 2004.
AU's Shannon Gillespie led four players in double-digit kills as
she finished with 16 to go along with a dozen digs and four blocks.
Priscella Irizarry added 15 kills, 12 digs and six blocks, while
Hailey Patton accounted for 14 kills and five blocks. Tinsley
Hallman recorded a double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs, along
with four blocks. Setter Meghan Cautero posted a match-high 52
assists while Alix Hooker tallied 31 digs and three service aces
for the Trojans.
Tusculum's Danae Stauffer tallied 13 kills and 11 digs, while
Kassie Voelker posted 10 kills, five digs and a team-best seven
blocks. Victoria Ashley contributed 10 kills, five digs and four
blocks, while Megan Hasse added nine kills and 11 blocks.
Two-time All-America libero Caitlyn Dean recorded 31 digs for her
seventh 30-dig performance of the season and 40th of her career.
Her 3,164 career digs are a NCAA II record and the ninth-most for
all NCAA divisions. TC's Hannah Berling finished with 26 assists
and eight digs, while Ashley Sarmiento tallied 24 assists and 11
digs.
The first set was tied three times in the early going, but the
Trojans were never able to gain the lead. Leading, 11-9, Tusculum
took its largest lead of the frame (15-10) on the strength of a 4-1
surge, but Anderson answered with a 7-2 run of its own to even the
score for the fourth time of the set. The Pioneers built a late
two-point edge and claimed the set by the same margin, 25-23.
The Trojans held off a late Tusculum rally to claim the second
frame, as AU posted an early 5-0 run to take an 11-6 lead. After
the Pioneers climbed within two, at 14-12, the Trojans built their
largest lead of the set, at 21-14. Tusculum reeled off five
unanswered points as part of an overall 9-3 run to battle back
within one. However, Pittman posted the final kill to give Anderson
the win.
With the third set tied at 7-7, the two teams traded four-point
outbursts, with the Trojans surging to an 11-7 lead, before
Tusculum countered with four straight points of its own to even the
score for the fourth time. Anderson then rattled off four
unanswered for a 15-11 edge and pushed out to a 20-15 lead before
the Pioneers closed within 22-21. Hallman and Pittman recorded
back-to-back kills before Hasse posted a kill and AU committed a
pair of miscues to even the score at 24-24. Irizarry halted the run
with a kill, with Pittman and Cautero combining on a block to
finish the set.
The fourth set featured seven early ties before Anderson snapped a
7-7 deadlock with a 7-1 outburst behind the serving of Irizarry and
Hooker. But Tusculum answered with an 11-2 run as part of an
overall 17-6 surge to win the set and force a fifth and deciding
set.
The Trojans regained the momentum in the final frame, racing out to
a 9-3 advantage and the Pioneers were unable to answer. AU's lead
grew to eight late in the set and Irizarry knocked down the final
kill of the match. AU finished the match hitting .210 including
.435 in the final set as the Trojans committed only one hitting
error in their 19 attempts in the final frame
