WINGATE, N.C. --- For the first time in nearly a decade, the Tusculum University women's volleyball team came out victorious in a match against Wingate. The Pioneers up their current winning streak to five after beating the Bulldogs, the longest span since 2017. TU is off to its best start in eight years.
Of note, Wingate had won the previous 19 meetings against the Greeneville squad, dating back to 2012. In the latest national poll, the Bulldogs were receiving votes. In August, they were picked to win the South Atlantic Conference for the 16th straight season.
The Black and Orange (5-1, 2-0 SAC) won the match by scores of 16-25, 24-26, 25-21, 25-21, 15-9 to hand the Bulldogs (5-1, 1-1 SAC) their first loss of the season.
Quin Sutphin (14) and Maggie Young (12) led Wingate offensively, with both hitting over .300. Shannon Kasprak dished out 43 assists and landed a team-best two service aces. Five Bulldogs recorded double-digit digs: Taryn Price (16), Kasey Eastland (15), Maggie Mullen (15), Kasprak (14), and Molly Lambillotte (10). Sophie Schaff is credited with a match-high 10 total blocks (two solo, eight assists).
Carli Pigza came up big once again, mashing a career-high 15 kills on a .343 hitting percentage. In total, eight Pioneers recorded multiple kills. Elise Carmichael handled the bulk of the offensive duties, notching 23 assists. Meanwhile, Catherine Clingan and Carly Sosnowski collected 11 and five, respectively. The libero Sosnowski finished with a match-high three aces, with Emiah Burrowes and Carmichael landing a pair. Emma Johnson and Kyndall Kalb rounded out the service column. For the fourth time this season, Sosnowski surpassed the 20-dig plateau, popping up 23 attempts. Raeley Matthews also added 14 digs to her season total. Bailey Parker made an impact in her first action of the year with four total blocks (two solo, two assists). Pigza and Johnson are each credited with three block assists.
Wingate hit .120 as a team with 51 kills and 31 errors in 167 total attempts. Tusculum hit .123 with 51 kills, 30 errors and 171 total attacks. The Bulldogs led the match in assists (51-45), digs (78-73), and total blocks (12-9), while the Pioneers held the advantage in aces (9-5).
The home team hit .308 to take set one, powered by a pair of spurts. TU got out to a 3-1 lead to start the match, but Wingate responded with six-straight points. The Pioneers rallied back to a two-score deficit multiple times, but a final push 9-2 by the Bulldogs sealed the opening frame.
Set two featured 13 ties and five lead changes in the afternoon's most tightly-contested frame. Parker got the Pioneers off to a good start with a kill in her first action of the season. Burrowes and Pigza followed with points of their own to extend the TU advantage to three. The opponents seemingly traded points until the Pioneers slightly pulled away at 20-17. Wingate called a timeout and settled in, forcing Tusculum to call a pair. The feisty Tennessee team fought off two set points to tie the frame at 24-all, but Wingate claimed back-to-back tallies to lead the match 2-0.
With a renewed sense of urgency, Tusculum never trailed in set three as Pigza collected the first kill. The Bulldogs tied it up at 9-all, but five consecutive points went the way of the Pioneers with Kalb at the line, aided by two kills from Peyton Gash. The TU advantage jumped to 18-11, backing Wingate into a timeout. They came out sharp, yet Tusculum kept edging its way closer to the elusive 25-point mark. Johnson closed the set with a kill as the Bulldogs hit in the negative (-.056).
Wingate shot out to a 7-2 lead, but a resilient Pioneer squad refused to lose. The Pioneers wrangled a tie at 9-9 on a Johnson ace. TU hit its stride after a Burrowes kill to give Tusculum the advantage which it never relinquished. Parker, Johnson, Sosnowski, and Gash tacked on kills. The Bulldogs fought off a set point but a tag-team block by Johnson and Pigza sent the match to a decisive fifth frame.
Sutphin tallied the first point for Wingate as the shortened fifth set featured four ties and three lead changes. The Bulldogs struggled offensively, once again hitting in the negative (-.053), gifting the Pioneers six points on attack errors. WU rallied to pull within one, but a service error was the beginning of the end for the home team. Tusculum earned the final five points of the match, clinched by a Carmichael ace and a Burrowes kill.
Tusculum stays in Tennessee for a non-conference match at King on Tuesday (Sept. 14) night. First serve from the Bristol campus is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
