FRANKLIN SPRINGS, Ga. --- The Tusculum University men's volleyball team had a record-breaking outing at Emmanuel on Tuesday (Feb. 22) night, winning a five-set nail-biter over the Lions.
The Pioneers (3-7) won by scores of 25-27, 27-25. 25-20, 22-25, 15-12 to stun the Lions (5-5).
Emmanuel had two players finish with 20 or more kills: Gustavo Cavalcanti (22) and Eli Zdonek (20). Carlos Guerrero also reached double-figures with his 13 kills. Henrik Westhoff dished out 56 assists, Cavalcanti and Viktor Berg landed the service aces. Nicklas Eichenberger notched 15 digs and Zdonek collected 10. Daniel Beacham finished with five block assists.
Jake Whyte added a season-best 18 kills, while Shaphar Grant tied his career-high 12 kills on a .500 clip. Shaun Kampshoff handed out a personal-best 43 assists and contributed three aces. Deklan Wingo entered the contest with four aces and left with eight on the season. Taylor West upped his season-high digs to 11 and Whyte improved his to eight. At the net, Grant shattered the program record for total blocks in a match (of any length), taking part in an astounding 12 (one solo, 11 assists). Whyte and Kampshoff also assisted in six stuffs.
The first two sets were slugfest, both needing overtime.
In the first frame, the teams traded points until Emmanuel shot out to a 19-14 advantage. Enter Wingo. Within a span of five serves, he landed four aces, including three-straight, which were bookended by timeouts. Now down 21-19, the Lions came back to tie the set at 23-all. Both teams had set-point at least once, but Emmanuel was able to string consecutive points together to clinch, 27-25.
Set two was even more competitive throughout, as neither team had more than a two-score lead at any point. Both teams had their best offensive output as Emmanuel hit .406 and TU fired on a .343 clip. Down 24-22, Tusculum called a timeout, facing a two-set deficit. The Pioneers fought off set-point with a Grant kill, followed by Whyte. An attack error handed the Lions another chance to end the set, but Whyte landed another point. Emmanuel had an unforced error of its own, now trailing 26-25. After a pause by the Lions, the blocking came in clutch as the winner was on a Whyte/Wingo stuff, 27-25.
The Lions had their worst hitting percentage of the night in set three (.031) and Tusculum took advantage. TU had mini spurts to creep away from Emmanuel in the form of three and four point runs. Four-straight points came at a key turning point in the frame as the Lions led 11-10. Whyte and Grant went back-to-back on kills and then the duo teamed up for a block. An Emmanuel attack error after a timeout handed the Pioneers a 14-11 advantage. To end the frame, TU net six of the final eight points, highlighted by a pair of kills from Dane Loup and another Whyte/Grant block.
Tusculum started set four off on a 4-0 run, but Emmanuel fired back with seven unanswered. The Lions led by as many as four at 13-9, pushing the advantage to five at 23-18. The Pioneers rattled off three-straight to make the score 23-21, but an unforced error handed EC set-point. Grant bought TU more time with a kill, yet the Lions forced a decisive fifth set.
The Pioneers hit in the negative in the crucial final frame, but ran away with the victory. Kampshoff and Grant started off the set with a bang, blocking Cavalcanti at the net. Emmanuel took the 6-5 lead and TU responded with a 7-1 run, including three blocks. The Lions nearly made an impressive comeback, but a quick set by Kampshoff to Grant for a kill was the final straw.
Emmanuel ended the match with a .209 hitting percentage with 63 kills and 32 attack errors on 148 total attempts. Emmanuel gifted TU 24 points on service errors throughout the match. Tusculum totaled a season-high 50 kills, 30 errors, and 141 swings for a .142 hitting percentage. The Lions led the match in assists (60-45) and digs (46-44), while the Pioneer landed more aces (7-2) and blocks (15-7). TU's 15 total blocks are a program record.
Tusculum will play in a tri-match on Saturday (Feb. 26) against a pair of top-tier Division III teams, hosted by Randolph-Macon. The Pioneers will start with No. 8 Southern Virginia at 2 p.m. and the hosting Yellow Jackets at 4 p.m.
