ROCK HILL, S.C. --- The Tusculum University women's volleyball team has been voted as the runner-up in the South Atlantic Conference Coaches' Poll, the league announced today. Individually, four Pioneers were named to the preseason list.

Emiah Burrowes and Carly Sosnowski earned first team laurels, while Carli Pigza and Elise Carmichael joined the second tier list.

Hailing from Wesley Chapel, North Carolina, Burrowes enters her senior season ranked third in career kills per set (3.24) and fourth in attempts per set (8.61) in Tusculum's record book. Accolades rolled in for the outside hitter, earning AVCA All-America honorable mention, AVCA All-Region, D2CCA Southeast Region Player of the Year, D2CCA All-Region first team, SAC Player of the Year, and conference first team laurels. Burrowes became the first student-athlete in program history to win both SAC Freshman and Player of the Year during their Pioneer career. She recorded a team-best 311 kills on a .260 hitting percentage, eight assists, 18 service aces, 217 digs (third-most on the team), and 28 total blocks (three solo, 25 assists). Burrowes now holds career-highs of 23 kills and 19 digs, while reaching double-digit kills in 17 matches and had nine contests with digs in the double-figures.

Sosnowski, a native of Oxford, Florida, enters her fourth season as a Pioneer ranked 10th in program history in career digs (1,055), while her digs per set rate of 4.86 is good for third all-time. Last season, the graduate libero racked up AVCA All-America honorable mention, AVCA All-Region, second team league honors, and was tabbed to the conference all-tournament team. Sosnowski played in all 97 sets, racking up three kills, 73 assists, 23 service aces, and 493 digs. On pace to become a three-time graduate of Tusculum, she recorded double-digit digs in 25-of-26 matches and upped her single-match career-best to 31 digs.

Pigza, a resident of Fort Mill, South Carolina, enters her fifth year at TU with the 12th-highest career hitting percentage. She played in every set on her way to earning her place on the NCAA Southeast Region All-Tournament Team, SAC second team, and the season-opening IUP All-Tournament Team. Pigza totaled 272 kills (second-most on the team) on a .246 hitting percentage, three assists, 54 digs, and a team-leading 42 total blocks (six solo, 36 assists). She recorded a career-best 19 kills and landed double-digit kills in 16 matches, including five consecutive to end the season.

Carmichael, of Avon, Indiana, has also made her mark in program history. The senior setter already ranks 10th in both career assists (1,339) and service aces (109), while sitting just shy of the aces per set record at 0.50. Carmichael is only the third student-athlete in program history to be credited with over 1,000 assists and 100 aces during their collegiate stint, joining Nicki Light (1993-95) and Libby Mauck (1998-2001). She reset the season aces per set record (0.65), which was good for second-most across Division II. Carmichael tallied three kills, a team-high 581 assists, 60 service aces (fourth-most in a TU single season), and 165 digs to earn SAC third team honors in 2021. She tied her collegiate-best 37 assists, notched double-digit assists in 25-straight matches, dug up a career-high 14 digs, and landed at least one ace in 23-of-26 matches to highlight her productivity.

The Pioneers received 127 total points in a vote of the conference's 13 head coaches, including three first place tallies. For the 17th consecutive season, Wingate has been voted to finish at the top of the league, garnering 136 points and six first place nods. Anderson and Lenoir-Rhyne claimed the remaining first place votes with two apiece, racking up 125 and 111 total points, respectively. Carson-Newman (106) and Mars Hill (81) slid just outside the top-four, while Newberry (70), Limestone (69), and Catawba (68) were separated by the narrowest of margins. Lincoln Memorial (48), Coker (35), UVA Wise (21), and league newcomer Emory & Henry (17) sit in the poll's double-digits.

Fourth-year head coach Danielle Marante returns 16 student-athletes from the banner 2021 squad, who finished the season 20-6 (15-3 SAC). Thanks to the program's first SAC Championship, the Pioneers reached the NCAA postseason for the first time since 2013, which was the sixth appearance overall. Marante brings in 11 (seven freshmen and four transfers) to add depth and vie for starting roles.

The Pioneers open the season at home (Aug. 30) versus archrival Carson-Newman before heading to Marante's alma mater and defending national champion, Tampa, for its weekend classic (Sept. 2-3).

The SAC is debuting a new scheduling configuration in 2022 with division play. Tusculum joins Carson-Newman, Emory & Henry, Limestone, Lincoln Memorial, Mars Hill, and UVA Wise in the Mountain division, while Anderson, Catawba, Coker, Lenoir-Rhyne, Newberry, and Wingate make up the Piedmont. The groupings will compete amongst themselves twice and the other faction just once.

The 2022 South Atlantic Conference Championship will feature a new format with its move to a divisional structure. The top four teams from both the Mountain and Piedmont sectors will battle their respective opposites, with the higher seed hosting the match (Nov. 7). The tournament semifinals and finals are slated to be held once again at the Rock Hill Sport and Events Center on Friday and Saturday (Nov. 11-12), respectively.

2022 Women's Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll

2022 Women's Volleyball Preseason All-Conference
First Team
Emiah Burrowes, Tusculum
Shannon Kasprak, Wingate
Julia Wheeler, Carson-Newman
Sarah Goddard, Mars Hill
Madison Roy, Anderson
Noelle Knutsen, Anderson
Carly Sosnowski, Tusculum (L)

Second Team
Jana Cuk, Mars Hill
Maggie Young, Wingate
Carli Pigza, Tusculum
Jaelyn Grimm, Anderson
Elise Carmichael, Tusculum
Colette Romp, Lenoir-Rhyne

Third Team
Molly Lambillotte, Wingate
Sadie Kluner, Anderson
Carley Williams, Emory & Henry
Emma Clark, Lenoir-Rhyne
Abbey Hildenbrand, Carson-Newman
Jordan Schmucker, Mars Hill