BRISTOL, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University women's volleyball team kept its fiery ways intact by sweeping in-state foe King in the final non-conference contest of the regular season. The victory runs the Pioneers' winning streak up to six matches, the best start since 2011.
The Black and Orange (6-1) won the match by scores of 25-13, 25-10, 25-20 over the Tornado (2-3).
Abigale Jayne led King with eight kills, doubling her closest teammate Brittney Ramsey's four. Katie Harless (8) and Georgia Davis (6) combined for 14 of the Tornado's 18 assists. Gabri Puertas and Hannah Rogers were responsible for the pair of service aces. Hailee Blankenship and Puertas collected the most digs with nine and seven, respectively. Ramsey is credited with a team-high three total blocks (one solo, two assists).
Emiah Burrowes had a career performance, notching 15 kills on a .480 hitting percentage. Carli Pigza also had a fantastic night, collecting 10 kills on a .400 clip. Elise Carmichael dished out 25 assists, followed by 11 out of the hands of Catherine Clingan. The latter finished with a match-best three aces, her highest total of the season. Carly Sosnowski, Burrowes, Raeley Matthews, and Carmichael rounded out the category with one each. Defensively, Sosnowski and Matthews tied for a match-high 14 digs, while Burrowes and Clingan collected seven apiece. Bailey Parker is credited with three total blocks (one solo, two assists).
King hit .034 as a team with 18 kills and 15 errors in 88 total attempts. In its best hitting night in nearly two years, Tusculum hit an electric .326 with 40 kills, 10 errors and 92 total attacks. The Pioneers led the Tornado in assists (38-18), aces (7-2), and digs (49-32), while the teams tied with four total blocks apiece.
Tusculum hit .389 in the first frame, setting the tone for the rest of the match. Burrowes led with six kills as four Pioneers swung at .500 or above. Once TU gained the scoring advantage on three consecutive kills (by Parker, Pigza, and Burrowes), the Black and Orange never relented the lead in set one. Beginning with a Pigza kill, Sosnowski served up six in a row to put Tusculum up 9-3. The Pioneers kept steadily climbing and Burrowes closed the set with an ace, winning 25-13.
The TU defense held King to a -.207 hitting percentage in the second set. All of Tusculum's blocks came in the frame as well to shut down the Tornado offense. Additionally, Burrowes went 3-for-5 on swings with no errors to raise her totals. The Pioneers never trailed and King was only able to garner a tie at 2-all. A pair of six-point runs by TU blew open the lead, served up by Clingan and Johnson. Pigza wrapped up the dominant set win with a kill, 25-10.
Set three was by far the closest of the match as the Pioneers won 25-20. TU tallied 15 kills to King's six and an advantage of three aces pushed the Pioneers to victory. The Tornado managed to take over the lead at 8-7, but a Tusculum timeout at 11-7 settled the team. The Pioneers regained the advantage at 14-13, but King did not go down easy, tying the frame at 17-17. Raven Chance was substituted in and Tusculum closed out the match on an 8-3 spurt, which was sealed by a Matthews kill.
TU begins a four-match homestand with Newberry on Friday (Sept. 17) night. First serve against the Wolves is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
