GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University women's volleyball team fired on all cylinders to push its winning streak to seven matches, sweeping Newberry with relative ease. The Pioneers are off to their overall start since 2011 and league outset dating back to 2012.
The Black and Orange (7-1, 3-0 SAC) won the match by scores of 25-17, 25-17, 25-14 over the Wolves (5-3, 0-1 SAC).
Newberry was led offensively by Margaret McMahon's seven kills, followed by five from Zoe Dinkins. Avery Webb handed out 14 assists, while Webb and Taylor Hall landed the team's two service aces. Webb (6) and Amanda Berecz (5) were responsible for over half of the Wolves' 21 digs. Dinkins is credited with three block assists, ahead of a pair by three of her teammates: Elizabeth Ober, Natasha Bannister, and McMahon.
The Pioneers were electric on the offensive end, headed up by 16 kills from Emiah Burrowes and 13 by Carli Pigza. The latter hit .619 with no attack errors on 21 swings, while Burrowes averaged a .560 clip. Bailey Parker also went a perfect 3-for-3. Elise Carmichael and Catherine Clingan ran the show, collecting 23 and 15 assists, respectively. Both Burrowes and Raeley Matthews notched a trio of aces. Carmichael (2), Clingan (2), and Carly Sosnowski (1) rounded out the serving column.
Defensively, Sosnowski finished with a match-high 12 digs, just ahead of 10 from Matthews. At the net, Pigza and Raven Chance teamed up for back-to-back blocks in the second set, while Peyton Gash and Parker combined for a stuff in the final frame.
Newberry hit .041 as a team with 17 kills and 14 errors in 74 total attempts. Tusculum hit a blazing .349, the most efficient in nearly two seasons, with 45 kills, 15 errors and 86 total attacks. The Pioneers led the match in assists (42-17), aces (11-2), and digs (38-21), while the Wolves had the advantage in total blocks (5-3).
The Pioneers hit over .320 in every set, highlighted by bookend percentages of .360 and .364, respectively.
TU kicked off the conference match with four-straight points to force an early Newberry timeout. However, the Wolves rallied to tie the set at 11, aided by a 6-0 run. The Pioneers responded with a four-point run of their own, helped out by a pair of Dinkins attack errors. Tusculum claimed seven of the final 11 scores. The set was closed out by a Carmichael ace and consecutive kills by Pigza.
Newberry held the advantage for the first half of set two, including multiple three-point leads. After tying the frame at 10-all, the Pioneer defense lit the fire that the offense fanned. Surrounded by a pair of Matthews' aces, Pigza and Chance tag-teamed for consecutive blocks, shooting the lead to 15-10. The Wolves could never catch up as TU won the second set by an identical 25-17 margin.
The third set was easily the best set for Tusculum, as the home team racked up 18 kills to Newberry's five. The Pioneers started out a bit slow, allowing the Wolves to collect three of the set's first four points. However, seven-straight tallies went to TU via kills by Chance, Pigza (2), Burrowes (2), and Parker, which sandwiched Sosnowski's lone ace. Tusculum's lead stretched to a high of 11 at the 20-9 mark. The opponents traded points until Burrowes clinched the sweep with her 16th kill.
Tusculum stays in Pioneer Arena for a Saturday (Sept. 18) matinee against SAC foe Anderson, with first serving coming at 2:00 p.m.
