GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum women's volleyball team nearly pulled off a reverse sweep of rival Carson-Newman on Friday (Sept. 27) night in front of an enthusiastic crowd.

The Pioneers (5-7, 3-1 SAC) forced a fifth set but fell to the Eagles (8-3, 4-0 SAC) by scores of 8-25, 23-25, 25-23, 25-21, 6-15.

Carson-Newman had three players tally double digit kills: Maddie Hurst (17), Blake Cherry (15), and Emerson Ahsmuhs (10). Blair Cherry dished out 55 assists, while Trinity Hafey and the elder Cherry landed a pair of service aces each. Five Eagles notched more than 10 digs: Bennett McCombs (26), McKenna Hall (21), Hafey (19), and the Cherry sisters with 13 and 11, respectively. Hurst had a hand in five total blocks (one solo, four assists).

For Tusculum, Whitney Thompson was the lone Pioneer to reach double digit kills with 12. Martina Foster (9), McKayla Willey (6), and Jordyn Roderick (6) had the next most, followed by Addison McLarty (5), Olivia Crowl (2), Karris Oller (1), and Amiranee Au (1). Madison Adkins contributed 33 assists, as Au racked up both aces for TU. Au finished with a team-high 19 digs, ahead of Adkins (12) and Taylor Sanders (10). Foster aided in six blocks, tying her career-best output (two solo, four assists).

Carson-Newman hit .187 as a team with 70 kills and 35 errors on 187 total attempts. Tusculum hit .092 with 42 kills, 25 errors, and 184 total attacks. The Eagles led the match in assists (68-38), service aces (6-2), and digs (102-75), while the Pioneers were credited with more total blocks (11-7).

Tusculum begins a three-match road swing on Wednesday (Oct. 2) with a short trip to Lincoln Memorial. First serve between the Pioneers and Railsplitters is scheduled for 7 p.m.