TAMPA, Fla. --- The Tusculum University women's volleyball team finished competition at the tough Tampa Classic on Saturday (Sept. 3). TU dropped its decisions to both Wheeling and No. 24 Colorado Mesa.
The Black and Orange (0-4, 0-1 SAC) returns home to Pioneer Arena to resume South Atlantic Conference action by hosting Mars Hill. First serve against the Lions (4-0, 0-0 SAC) is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Match 1: Wheeling 3, Tusculum 1
The Cardinals (2-4) won by scores of 25-21, 25-15, 23-25, 25-19 to down the Pioneers in the day's opener. WU was listed among those receiving votes in the AVCA preseason poll.
Mady Winters led Wheeling with 16 kills on a fiery .538 hitting percentage, ahead of Tylah Yeomans' 13 points on a .308 rate. Karly Niesen dished out 40 of the Cardinals' 44 assists and landed four service aces, while Berit Jones recorded a match-high 23 digs. Two for Wheeling are credited with three total blocks: Winters and Allonda Watkins.
Emiah Burrowes tallied 22 kills for the Pioneers on an efficient .385 clip. Carli Pigza also recorded a double-digit kill outing with 16 on a .343 hitting percentage. Martina Foster notched nine kills out of the middle, firing at a .500 rate, followed by seven from Peyton Gash. Samantha Bunch (18) and Elise Carmichael (20) combined for 38 assists in the match. Additionally, Carmichael landed a pair of aces, joined by Burrowes and McKayla Willey with one apiece. Carly Sosnowski scooped up 21 digs and Burrowes recorded a double-double with her 10 digs. TU's lone block was a solo stuff off of the hands of Burrowes.
WU finished the match with a .308 hitting percentage with 55 kills and 10 attack errors in 146 total attempts. Tusculum totaled 61 kills, 23 errors, and 156 swings for a .244 hitting clip. The Cardinals led the match in aces (6-4) and total blocks (6-1), while the Pioneers held the advantage in assists (54-44) and digs (58-54).
Match 2: No. 24 Colorado Mesa 3, Tusculum 0
The Pioneers suffered its fourth-straight loss to begin the season at the hands of the nationally-ranked Mavs: 25-15, 25-21, 25-20. This marks the second top-25 foe thus far in 2022.
Colorado Mesa posted a .292 hitting percentage as CMU finished with 51 kills, 18 attack errors, and 113 attempts. Tusculum tallied a .133 clip with 27 kills and 15 errors on 90 attempts. The Mavs are credited with more assists (47-21) and digs (40-33), while the Pioneers notched more service aces (3-2) and total blocks (5-4).
Sydney Leffler recorded a match-high 17 kills, followed by 11 points from both Erin Curl and Savannah Spitzer. The latter was near perfect, averaging a .769 hitting clip. Sabrina Vandelist contributed 38 assists and was one of two for the Mavs to land an ace (Leffler). Defensively, Kerstin Layman added a team-best nine digs, just ahead of Spitzer's seven. At the net, three total blocks (one solo, two assists) were credited to Spitzer.
Once again, Burrowes led the way for Tusculum, notching nine kills. Pigza (8), Madison Adkins (5), Gash (3), Lauren Xayavong (1), and Foster (1) rounded out the scoring. Adkins went 5-for-8 in her attempts for a .625 rate, while also recording 19 of the Pioneers' 21 assists. Three for TU are tabbed with an ace: Adkins, Xayavong, and Sosnowski. The latter was the lone player in the contest to reach double-digit digs with her 11. Foster finished with a match-best four block assists, beating out three from Adkins.
