GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University women's volleyball team is on its longest winning streak of the season after taking down Newberry on Friday (Nov. 8), moving into sole possession of sixth place in the league standings.
The Pioneers (12-12, 10-6 SAC) swept the Wolves (7-12, 4-10 SAC) by scores of 25-23, 25-20, 29-27. It marks TU's first winning sweep since October 11 against Coker.
Kate Brown notched 11 kills on a .286 hitting percentage to lead the Wolves. In a two-setter system, Giovanna Ravanhani (17) and Annie Dill (14) combined for 31 assists. Ravanhani and Katy Morrison landed the service aces. The latter finished with a match-best 23 digs as the Newberry libero. At the net, Gabby Warren assisted in four blocks.
McKayla Willey led all players with 15 kills for Tusculum, followed by Addison McLarty (12) and Karris Oller (11). The latter tied her career-high while firing on a .321 clip. Martina Foster (7), Madison Adkins (3), and Olivia Crowl (3) rounded out the scoring. Adkins dished out 39 assists as Foster was responsible for the lone TU ace. She also led the Pioneers with 18 digs, ahead of Amiranee Au (15) and Macey Snapp (13). Willey had a hand in four of the team's five blocks (two solo, two assists).
Newberry hit .138 as a team with 38 kills and 20 errors on 130 total attempts. Tusculum hit .227 with 51 kills, 19 errors, and 141 total attacks. The Wolves led the match in service aces (2-1) and total blocks (6-5), while the Pioneers tallied more assists (48-37) and digs (65-60).
The Pioneers started out slow, with three service errors in three tries. The offense got Tusculum back on track as the foes tied five times before one reached 10 points. TU hit .302 with 19 kills in the frame with four each by McLarty, Foster, and Willey. McLarty spurred the home team in a 4-0 run to extend the lead to 13-9. Newberry climbed back to a one-score deficit but Willey's solo block to make it 19-15 forced a timeout by the Wolves. The visitors fought off four set-points before Oller gave the Pioneers a match lead.
Tusculum only relented two ties in the second set (both within the first six points) as the Pioneers continued their hot hitting a .304 with 18 kills. Willey (7) and McLarty (5) combined for the majority of the scoring points. Up 5-4, TU went on a 4-0 run, including the lone ace of the match by Foster. Newberry put pressure on the home team towards the middle of the set until McLarty kicked off a 5-0 stretch at 20-17. Once again, the Wolves fought off a few set-points until McLarty put TU up 2-0 in the match.
Newberry led the majority of the third set, trying to avoid a sweep. The majority of the drama was at the end of the set as the frame needed overtime. The Wolves claimed the first four points, holding the lead until the first change at 20-19, in the midst of a 5-0 run by Tusculum. Newberry surged to tie the set at 22-all as TU called the final timeout by either side. TU got two points by Willey via a kill and solo block to force match-point. The Wolves went on a 3-0 spurt to enforce a set-point. The Pioneers benefitted from back-to-back attack errors by the visitors to swing the lead to 26-25. The teams combined for three-straight service errors to tie the set at 27-27. Oller tipped down a kill followed by a Foster-Adkins rejection to claim Tusculum's first sweep in nearly a month.
Tusculum plays its final road regular season contest on Tuesday (Oct. 12) at Mars Hill. First serve between the Pioneers and Lions is scheduled for 6 p.m.
