GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University volleyball team dropped a pair of matches Saturday to close out the 2018 SAC Regional Crossover, which was held at Pioneer Arena this weekend.
Tusculum's bid to overcome a two-set deficit fell short in a 3-2 loss to Belmont Abbey. In the final match of the weekend, King posted a 3-0 sweep over the Pioneers (2-2).
Belmont Abbey 3, Tusculum 2
Belmont Abbey rallied from an 8-3 deficit in the fifth set to knock off host Tusculum 3-2 in a five-set thriller. The Crusaders won the match by scores of 25-20, 25-16, 25-27, 21-25 and 15-11.
The Crusaders (2-4) were led by Mackenzie Chrapliwy's double-double of 15 kills and 16 digs in the victory. Cassidy Bonito tallied a double-double of her own with 12 kills and a match-high 43 assists. The duo of Brianna Morgheim and Lanie Healey posted 11 kills each in the win. Sarah Kenney led the visitors' defensive efforts with 33 digs.
Tusculum's Gabby Gray tallied 13 kills and 13 digs, while Cassie Born accounted for 12 kills and 10 digs for the Pioneers. Setter Alyssa Rojas added 19 assists and nine digs, while Emily Lawless finished with 18 assist and six digs. Senior libero Melissa Mazur tallied 23 digs for Tusculum.
The Crusaders jumped out to a 2-0 lead before the Pioneers bounced back to tie the match at 2-2 with wins in the third and fourth frames. The third set included 17 ties and eight lead changes with Lydia Collins and Born closing out the frame with back-to-back kills as TU trailed 2-1.
In the fourth set, the Pioneers jumped out to a 5-1 lead and would cruise from there with a 25-21 decision to send the match into a deciding frame.
Tusculum took a 4-1 lead to start the fifth and led 8-3 following a kill by Nevena Pejovic. The teams switched sides and so did the momentum. Belmont Abbey charged back going on an 8-1 run which including a 6-0 run sparked by three kills from Chrapliwy.
TU got a kill from Gray to draw within 11-10, but a 4-1 by the Crusaders closed out the match including a TU hitting error on match point.
Tusculum finished the match with 13 team blocks, but couldn't overcome 13 service errors in the contest.
Belmont Abbey finished the match hitting .161 while posting 64 total kills, 24 more than the Pioneers' 46 who ended the contest with a .103 attack percentage.
King 3, Tusculum 0
Tristyn Lozano posted 10 kills and a .421 hitting percentage in pacing King to a 3-0 win over Tusculum. The Tornado (4-4) won the match by scores of 25-21, 25-15, 25-21 to snap a three-match losing streak to the Pioneers and post its first win over TU since 2014.
KU's Kayley Holtzclaw finished with nine kills, five blocks and a .471 hitting percentage, while Julie Ward accounted for eight kills, 13 digs and three blocks in the win. Sydney Pigage added 17 digs, while Abby Anderson distributed 32 assists for the Tornado.
Gray led the Pioneers with eight kills, while Born and Pejovic added seven kills each in the loss. Mazur led the charge defensively again with her 21 digs, while Rojas contributed 23 assists and seven digs for the Black & Orange.
Tusculum returns to action next weekend when they host Montevallo on Friday (4:30 p.m.) and Georgia College on Saturday at (4 p.m.) at Pioneer Arena.
