GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University women's volleyball team finished off the regular season with an upset of Lenoir-Rhyne on Senior Night, closing out the 2024 home schedule with a 7-2 record.
Additionally, senior setter Madison Adkins became only the seventh player in program history to reach 2,000 career assists.
The Pioneers (13-13, 11-7 SAC) swept the Bears (23-5, 14-4 SAC) by scores of 25-23, 25-17, 25-18.
Lenoir-Rhyne collected eight kills from three different players: Jenna Vogen, Averie Dale and Kayli Cleaver. Rachel Wildermuth notched 25 assists, while Brooke Aeschliman and Ella Scott tallied the service aces. Four Bears reached double-digit digs: Hadley Prince (19), Wildermuth (11), Aeschliman (10), and Vogen (10). At the net, both Dale and Kathy Peter were credited with a pair of blocks.
For Tusculum, the outside duo of McKayla Willey (15) and Addison McLarty (10) landed over half of the team's kills as the latter hit .308. Olivia Crowl hit .333 with six kills, joined by Martina Foster and Karris Oller with six as well. Madison Adkins and Amiranee Au rounded out the scoring with two and one kills, respectively. In her final outing in Pioneer Arena, Adkins crossed the milestone with 35 assists. Foster, Au, and Taylor Sanders accounted for the aces. Four Pioneers collected double figures in digs: Au (18), Sanderson (15), Macey Snapp (14), and Adkins (13). Crowl led the way at the net with four total blocks (one solo, three assists).
Lenoir-Rhyne hit .128 as a team with 36 kills and 18 errors on 141 total attempts. Tusculum hit .258 with 46 kills, 14 errors, and 124 total attacks. The Pioneers led the Bears in assists (43-32), service aces (3-2), digs (76-56), and total blocks (6-4).
The first set of the night was easily the most competitive, featuring eight ties and two lead changes as neither team held more than a three-point advantage during the frame. Lenoir-Rhyne tallied 19 kills to Tusculum's 13, but the Bears also had five more attack errors. Willey started out the set with the first of her six kills in the set. LR responded with a 6-2 spurt. TU used two of its three blocks in the frame to tie it once again. The momentum and score swung back and forth until the Bears led 22-20. Foster and Willey went back-to-back, with Crowl's solo rejection forcing a Lenoir-Rhyne pause. An attack error gave TU the set-point which the visitors fought off. Willey bookended set one with yet another kill.
Willey also started and ended the second set, totaling five strikes. The foes tied twice with a pair of lead changes, all occurring within the first 10 scores. Tusculum hit .361 with 17 kills, holding Lenoir-Rhyne to a .075 hitting clip. McLarty and Crowl both hit an errorless .500 with six and three kills, respectively. Down 4-2, the Pioneers went on a 7-0 run with Snapp behind the line, with all three of Crowl's points in the span. The Bears were only able to get it down to a three-point deficit at 10-7, while TU led by as many as eight.
The final set was all Tusculum as the only tie was at 3-all. Lenoir-Rhyne was held to a .082 hitting percentage with eight kills, while Foster and Willey combined for eight scores with four apiece. Snapp worked hard in the back row, diving around for nine digs, including a few corner-to-corner saves. TU won the first three points of the frame before LR responded in kind. The Pioneers then went on a 9-1 run, including three kills by Willey and a pair from Oller. The lead reached 10 (16-6) after consecutive kills by Foster. However, the Bears fought back. Down 17-8, Lenoir-Rhyne surged for sixth-straight scores, closing the gap to three. Tusculum used a kill by Foster and a tandem block by Crowl and Willey to give more cushion to the advantage, forcing LR to call its final timeout at 20-15. Crowl and McLarty added to the score, combined with three unforced errors by the Bears, to close out the contest.
Tusculum awaits the official tournament seeding by the South Atlantic Conference, being released on Saturday (Nov. 16) after the conclusion of the regular season. The Pioneers will be on the road for the quarterfinal match, scheduled for Tuesday (Nov. 19).
