GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University men's volleyball team split a pair of matches on Friday as part of a home round-robin, including the program's first win of the season. The Black and Orange move to 1-7 on the season.
In the first match, Tusculum swept Bluefield College. To wrap up the day, the Pioneers fell to Erskine in straight sets.
Tusculum 3, Bluefield College 0
The Pioneers forced their way past the Rams (4-8), winning by scores of 25-20, 25-22, 25-18.
Tusculum posted a .241 hitting percentage as TU finished with 33 kills, 14 attack errors, and 79 attempts. Bluefield tallied a .118 attack percentage with 26 kills, 18 errors and 68 attempts. The Rams finished the day with five service aces to go along with four total blocks and 24 digs. The Pioneers had a season-high 10 aces with eight total blocks and 17 digs.
Tusculum's Shaun Kampshoff led the offensive attack with 14 kills on .333 hitting. Hunter Walck added seven kills, while Shaphar Grant was 3-for-6 on his swings. Lucas Blanco dished out 20 assists, while Reese DeElena, in his collegiate debut, finished with six. Kampshoff was also stellar in his serving, recording a career-best four aces. Dane Loup and Peter Stewart each landed a pair as well. Taylor Phillips headed up the back row defense with four digs, followed by three from both Loup and Kampshoff. At the net, Grant tallied three block assists and Kampshoff aided in two.
Alberto Chiaparini was the lone Ram to reach double-digit kills with his 10. Leonel Fernandez was quite efficient, knocking down seven kills on a .545 clip. Of Bluefield's 25 assists, Tony Martin distributed 24. Alvaro Grande registered a team-best two aces. Libero Colby Mutter and Chiaparini dug up a match-high seven attempts each. Eric Duron and Jariel Diaz teamed up on two blocks, the lone denials for the Rams.
Bluefield took the first point of the match and stretched it to a five point lead, 13-8. TU called a timeout to halt a four point run by the Rams. The Pioneers responded by winning 10 of the next 12 points, including a kill and two block assists by Grant. After the Bluefield timeout and two points by the visitors, TU rattled off four consecutive points. A kill by Caleb Slater, a service error, and an attack fail provided the final three points that the Pioneers needed, taking set one 25-20. TU hit a fiery .318 over the course of the first set.
The second frame was the most tightly contested of the match as Tusculum won by only a three point margin, 25-22. The teams seemingly traded points until the final tie at 21-21 and neither side led by more than three at any time. The draw was broken by a bad set from the Rams and Kampshoff used an ace to swing the momentum further. Jack Wozniak subbed in after a point by Bluefield and immediately made an impact with his first kill of the day. An attack error clinched the set in the Pioneer favor.
Kampshoff was 6-of-9 on his swings in the final set and Stewart's two aces also played a role in stretching the lead out of Bluefield's grasp. His aces bookended the longest run of the set, four points, for either side. DeElena made his first appearance as a Pioneer at the 15-11 mark and finished out the frame by assisting on six kills. Walck and Wozniak earned back-to-back kills and a Bluefield attack error wrapped up the match with a 25-18 set three score. The Tusculum defense held the Rams to a .042 hitting percentage in the final frame.
Erskine 3, Tusculum 0
The Flying Fleet (8-7) won by scores of 25-23, 25-20, 25-15 to defeat the Pioneers (1-7).
Edgerrin Austin collected a match-high 15 kills on a .440 clip, followed by eight kills from Jacob Whyte. Cole Vigo was 4-for-4 on swings, while Jon Fuller notched four kills on seven swings. Juan Alcoba dished out 32 of the team's 36 assists as the setter. Whyte contributed a match-best three service aces and Justin Rendon headed up the dig column with 10. Vigo and Kacper Rybarczyk teamed up on a block, while Fuller is credited with a solo stuff.
Once again, Kampshoff collected the team-high in kills, landing nine in the second match of the day. Grant was next with eight on a .467 average and Slater rattled off six kills, firing at a .556 rate, against his former team. Setter Blanco collected a solid 30 assists. Loup, Walck, and Slater were the lone Pioneers to record an ace. Blanco, Phillips, and Kampshoff dug up four attack attempts each. Slater was the dominant force at the net for TU and is credited with three total blocks (one solo, two assists).
Erskine finished the match with a .370 hitting percentage with 38 kills and 11 attack errors in 73 total attempts. Tusculum totaled 34 kills, tying a season-low 14 errors, and 86 swings for a .233 hitting percentage. The Flying Fleet led in assists (36-34), aces (5-3), and digs (31-20), while the Pioneers are credited with more total blocks (3-2).
Tusculum returns to action on Wednesday (Mar. 10) when it hosts Emmanuel (Ga.) within Pioneer Arena. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m.
For more information and schedule updates about TU Athletics, visit our website at www.TusculumPioneers.com. At this time, no visiting fans are permitted at any Tusculum University venue. The full TU athletic attendance policy can be found here.
