GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University women's volleyball team collected its first home sweep of the season by taking down Catawba on Friday (Oct. 10) night. TU has now won four in a row.
The Pioneers (7-7, 5-3 SAC) swept the Catawba Indians (5-7, 2-5 SAC) by scores of 25-17, 26-24, 25-19.
Lillie Kate Rogers led the visitors with nine kills, while the setting duo of Tamie Boudot (15) and Haley Moffett (13) combined for 28 assists. Martina Foster finished with a team-best three service aces and two block assists. Libero Riley Hill scooped up 14 digs for Catawba.
Grace VanZwieten landed an errorless 13 kills on a .481 hitting percentage to head up the Tusculum attack. Jaida Alvin hit .500 on her way to nine kills, leading Mackenzie Land by one strike. Karris Oller notched seven kills on a .300 clip, while Isabella Bianchin went 4-for-8 with no errors. Victoria Church registered 32 assists as Mia Wave-Nelson contributed a career-best three aces. Three Pioneers finished with eight digs apiece: Land, Wave-Nelson, and Taylor Sanders. At the net, both VanZwieten and Bianchin had a hand in two blocks.
Catawba hit .110 as a team with 35 kills and 23 errors on 109 total attempts. Tusculum hit a season-best.340 with 41 kills, seven errors, and 100 total attacks. The Indians led the match in digs (49-44), while the Pioneers tallied more assists (35-32) and total blocks (4-3). The teams tied with eight service aces apiece.
Tusculum came out firing in the match, hitting .417 while holding Catawba to an even hitting clip. The Indians also aided the Pioneers with 10 attack errors. Down, 3-2, TU went on a 7-1 spurt and hung on to the lead for the remainder of the set. Tusculum continued to pour it on, using a 5-1 stretch to increase its lead to 21-13. Catawba closed the gap with a 4-1 run, but the Pioneers finished out the frame with three-straight scores.
Set two featured 17 ties and 13 lead changes for an instant thriller. Tusculum recorded all four of its blocks in the frame, while Catawba countered with six aces. The Indians got out to an early 3-0 edge before the Pioneers rallied for five of the six points, highlighted by a pair of blocks. The teams stayed within three scores of one another until TU went on a three-point spurt, including back-to-back aces by Wave-Nelson, to lead 19-15. Catawba responded with a 4-0 run as the lead jostled between the foes. The Indians landed an ace to force set-point at 24-23, but consecutive blocks and a kill by Bianchin earned Tusculum the 2-0 match advantage.
The final frame saw nine ties and four lead changes. Tusculum rattled off 16 kills and 24 digs in set three alone. Down 4-3, Catawba went on a 4-1 stretch before TU regained the lead with a three-point spurt. The Pioneers kicked into another gear at the 14-14 tie. VanZwieten registered consecutive kills before an error by the Indians, forcing a timeout. At 18-16, Tusculum scored five-straight, including a span of three-straight by Land. Catawba tried to close the gap but the lead was too great.
Tusculum has a rematch with archrival Carson-Newman on Tuesday (Oct. 14) in Jefferson City. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. The Eagles won the match in Greeneville over the Pioneers in three sets.
