The Tusculum women’s volleyball team honored its graduates prior to the match in Pioneer Arena, sending the seven off in style on Saturday (Oct. 29).
The Pioneers (12-11, 11-6 SAC) claimed the match by scores of 25-19, 25-10, 25-20 to sweep past the Cavaliers (5-17, 1-15 SAC). TU is now on a three-match winning streak.
UVA Wise was led by eight kills by Kaylee Scarce, followed by five from both Morgan Blevins and Morgan Blakenship. Lily Gutierrez and Piper Suddeth shared the setting duties, recording 11 and 10 assists, respectively. Blevins, Cassidy Farley, and Gutierrez landed the trio of service aces for the Cavaliers. Libero Kamryn Livingston scooped up a team-high 13 digs. Dannah Persinger is credited with three total blocks at the net (one solo, two assists).
Peyton Gash (11) and Emiah Burrowes (10) reached double-figures in kills to head up the Tusculum attack. Also collecting offensive points were Carli Pigza (6), Raven Chance (6), Martina Foster (5), and Isabella Biesterfeld (4). Five Pioneers hit over .350 in the home finale: Chance (.625), Biesterfeld (.571), Gash (.562), Burrowes (.400), and Foster (.364). As the setters, Samantha Bunch and Elise Carmichael notched 18 and 14 assists, respectively. Bunch (2), Foster (2), Burrowes (1), and Pigza (1) recorded the TU aces. Upping her career high in digs was Bunch with 16, a match best. Chance assisted on three of Tusculum’s four blocks.
UVA Wise hit .049 as a team with 25 kills and 20 errors on 102 total attempts. Tusculum hit .330 with 42 kills, 11 errors, and 94 total attacks. The Pioneers led the match in assists (41-23), aces (6-3), and digs (52-35), while the Cavaliers tallied one more block (5-4).
The first point of the contest went the way of the visitors, but Tusculum rattled off three-straight to take an early advantage. UVA Wise evened the score at four before the Pioneers won eight of the next nine points to lead 12-5. A 9-3 response by the Cavaliers pulled them within one, but Burrowes took over. Three of her set-high six kills came after the 16-15 mark. TU finished out on a five-point surge, served by Sosnowski. UVA Wise tallied three of its five blocks in the frame, while Foster started out 3-for-5 from the front row.
Tusculum continued its dominance in the second set, holding the Cavaliers to only 10 points. UVA Wise hit -.057 with a mere five kills in the frame. Meanwhile, Tusculum used three of its four blocks and a .344 hitting percentage with just two errors to make short work of its opposite. Gash fired on a 5-for-6 pace, Chance was perfect on two swings, and Biesterfeld hit ,667. Lauren Xayavong recorded all three of her digs in the span. The closest that the Cavaliers got was a 3-3 tie. The Pioneers scored seven-straight and 18 of the next 20. Chance collected all three of her blocks with different teammates in the span and Gash landed three kills in a four-point stretch. UVA Wise did manage four consecutive points to reach double-digits, but the lead was too great.
Set three was the most tightly contested, including five ties and two lead changes. Burrowes was perfect 2-for-2, while Gash added another five kills. Foster found the open floor for the first point in the last frame. The Cavaliers were able to use a 5-for-6 surge to overtake TU. Burrowes landed a kill, followed by back-to-back aces from Foster. The Pioneers did not relinquish the advantage again. Five consecutive points by Tusculum (14-9) and the Cavaliers were never able to get the edge to under two. Aptly, Pigza, a five-year Pioneer, sealed the Senior Day victory with her 868th career kill.
Tusculum rounds out the regular season with a trip to Limestone on Tuesday night (Nov. 1). First serve between the Pioneers and Saints (10-9, 7-9 SAC) has been bumped back to 7:30 p.m.
