DUE WEST, S.C. --- The Tusculum women's volleyball team closed out its tournament weekend at Erskine with a sweep of Clark Atlanta on Saturday (Sept. 2) afternoon.
The Pioneers (2-1) beat the Panthers (0-2) via straight sets in the first-ever meeting between the programs: 25-17, 25-22, 25-13.
Clark Atlanta was led offensively by five kills from Halle Mitchell, while both Madison Spells and Shynique McGee tallied three. Allanah Drayton-Campbell dished out 10 assists, while Dahlia Williams landed a pair of service aces. Nakayla James finished with a match-best 13 digs to head up the Panther defense. At the net, a trio was credited with two block assists: Spells, Williams, and Mitchell.
For Tusculum, Emiah Burrowes had her first double-digit kill outing with an even 10 on a .333 hitting percentage. Martina Foster went 7-for-11 on her swings with no errors for a .636 clip. Mya Lewis notched a career-high 20 assists. Four Pioneers accounted for the aces: Madison Adkins (3), Aly Freeland (3), Lewis (3), and Amiranee Au (1). Au also contributed eight digs, while Whitney Thompson added four total blocks (one solo, three assists).
Clark Atlanta hit -.015 as a team with 18 kills and 19 errors on 66 total attempts. Tusculum hit .279 with 37 kills, 13 errors, and 86 total attacks. The Pioneers led the match in assists (30-18), service aces (10-5), and total blocks (7-5), while the Panthers held the advantage in digs (31-26).
Tusculum started out the match strong, landing 14 kills on a .370 average. Foster did most of her damage in the opening frame, going 5-for-7 on attacks, while Freeland racked up all four of her kills in seven attempts. Au came up big with five point-saving digs as the libero. The teams traded scored until a service run by Adkins, followed by Lewis provided the necessary separation. CAU made a late run to close the gap but a block by the Foster sisters (Martina and Jamianne Foster) swung the momentum back to TU.
McKayla Willey made the most of her limited outing with a 3-for-5 set. Prior to her substituting in, the Pioneers tallied the first six points of the second frame. With Tusculum seemingly in control at 21-16, the Panthers did not go down without a fight, scratching their way back to a two-score deficit. However, another Clark Atlanta attack error clinched the 2-0 match lead for TU.
Set three was all Tusculum as the Pioneers hit .423 and held the Panthers to a negative clip. Burrowes finished the match with an errorless 5-for-9 offensive output. Once again, a formidable start provided the Pioneers with a comfortable edge which CAU was never able to lessen. Winning the first five scores and taking a 7-1 advantage in back-to-back sets, the Pioneers cruised, closed out by three points by the fifth-year graduate student.
Tusculum opens the home portion of its season on Tuesday (Sept. 5) night at 7 p.m. against UVA Wise in a South Atlantic Conference scrum.
