WINGATE, N.C. — The 20th-ranked Wingate Bulldogs picked up a sweep of the Tusculum Pioneers on Friday (Sept. 19) night at Cuddy Arena.
The Pioneers (3-6, 1-2 SAC) fell to the Bulldogs (9-1, 2-0 SAC) by scores of 25-17, 25-16, 25-13.
Wingate’s Sydney Morland led the match with 12 kills on a .600 hitting percentage. Abby Mas joined her teammate in double figures with 10 kills. Maya Van Heyst dished out 34 assists, while both Emily Johnson and Rylee Tanner landed a pair of service aces. Maddie Hoffman scooped up a match-high 18 digs, while Johnson finished with three block assists.
Mackenzie Land tallied a team-best nine kills for Tusculum. Joining Land on offense was Grace VanZwieten (6), Karris Oller (4), Eliza Jewell Oliverius (2), Jordyn Roderick (1), Victoria Church (1), Mary Katherine Hall (1), and Solene Roussel (1). Church and Roussel each recorded nine assists, while four Pioneers accounted for the aces: Land, Karlie Russell, Taylor Sanders, and Mia Wave-Nelson. Sanders was the lone player for TU to reach double-figures with 10 digs. Both Oller and Roussel combined for two block assists as Oliverius contributed a solo rejection.
Wingate hit .431 as a team with 52 kills and eight errors on 102 total attempts. Tusculum hit .124 with 25 kills, 13 errors, and 97 total attacks. The Bulldogs led the Pioneers in assists (48-22), service aces (6-4), digs (54-41), and total blocks (5-3).
Tusculum hosts archrival Carson-Newman on Tuesday (Sept. 23) night at Pioneer Arena for a “Black Out”. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m.
