ANDERSON, S.C. --- The Tusculum University women's volleyball team succumbed to the Anderson Trojans in the opening round of the South Atlantic Conference, putting an end to the Pioneers' remarkable season.

The Trojans (22-6) won by scores of 25-21, 25-16, 25-8 to blank the Pioneers (15-14).

Anderson was led offensively by Hailee Wilhelm's 12 kills on an .688 hitting percentage. Maya Learmonth notched nine kills on a .353 clip. Emily Conlin collected 35 of the team's 41 assists. Conlin and Meghan DeVaux each finished with a trio of service aces, while DeVaux scooped up a match-high 11 digs. At the net, four Trojans were credited with a pair of block assists.

Emiah Burrowes was the lone Pioneer to reach double-digit kills with 12 on a .292 rate. Catherine Clingan led the setting pair with 11 assists, while Elise Carmichael collected six. Carmichael earned all Tusculum's  three service aces in the same series in the first set. Carly Sosnowski finished with a team-high seven digs, followed by Burrowes with five. Carli Pigza made her presence at the net with four block assists, while Tatum Thornton added three block assists. 

Anderson finished the match with a .366 hitting percentage with 44 kills, 14 errors, and 82 total attempts. TU tallied 21 kills, 15 errors and 80 attacks for a .075 hitting percentage. The Trojans led the Pioneers in assists (41-20) and digs (37-19), and aces (7-3), while Tusculum held the advantage in blocks (5-4).

Despite the loss, Tusculum secured a winning season for the first time since 2014 in Danielle Marante's inaugural season at the helm of the Pioneer program.