CHARLOTTE, N.C. --- The Tusculum University men's volleyball team split its two matches at Queens University of Charlotte on Saturday (Mar. 16). The Pioneers rallied for a five-set victory over Fort Valley State before falling to the hosting Royals in the nightcap.
The Black and Orange (5-16) returns to North Carolina once more on Tuesday (Mar. 19) to rematch with Lees-McRae. First serve from Banner Elk is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Match 1: Tusculum 3, Fort Valley State 2
The Pioneers started off the day with a five-set comeback over the Wildcats (8-6): 20-25, 29-27, 18-25, 25-18, 17-15.
Isaiah Fedd recorded 27 kills on a .346 hitting percentage to lead FVSU, joined by Jaxon Hicks with an errorless 12 kills on a .500 clip. Jose Gallardo dished out 49 assists, as Fedd also led the way with three service aces. Both Hicks (11) and Gallardo (10) reached double-figures in digs. Raheem Thomas was credited with four blocks at the net.
Deklan Wingo net a double-double with his 20-kill, 11-dig performance. Colby Landry was just behind with 19 strikes, while Adam Svendsen went off for 10 kills on a .571 clip in just two sets of action. Jaden Bramhall (7), Morgan Makovec (5), Tristan Blake (4), and Donovan Nye (2) rounded out the scoring. Blake distributed 54 assists, while Landry and Bramhall landed the TU aces. Both Blake and Matt Moore finished just behind Wingo with nine digs apiece. Makovec had a hand in four blocks, as Svendsen took part in three rejections.
Fort Valley State finished the match with a .277 hitting percentage with 57 kills and 19 attack errors in 137 total attempts. Tusculum totaled 67 kills, 24 errors, and 145 swings for a .297 hitting clip. The Pioneers led the match in assists (61-51) and digs (52-44), while the Wildcats tallied more service aces (8-2) and total blocks (8-6).
FVSU took set one of the contest despite a combined nine kills from Wingo and Landry. TU won the first point, but the Wildcats went on several spurts to push the lead to as many as eight (22-14). The Pioneers attempted a late rally, closing the gap to four, but the damage was done.
Tusculum responded by hitting .333 with 11 kills from the Landry/Wingo duo. The defense also stepped up 14 digs. Fort Valley State shot out to a 5-1 lead, forcing an early TU timeout. The Pioneers scored in bunches, not taking its first lead until 22-21. However, the Wildcats would not go down without a fight, as Tusculum faced three set-points. Down 27-26, the Pioneers rattled off three-straight scores to bring the match to a tie.
FVSU hit .407 in the third set in spite of Tusculum's 12 digs. Landry added five kills and his ace. The Wildcats went on a strong run in the middle of the set to go up 20-11, but Landry scored three of the next five for the Pioneers. TU chipped away but Fort Valley State regained the match lead.
Enter Adam Svendsen. In his first action of the match, he went 4-for-6 with two blocks. As a team, Tusculum hit .400 with three rejections. FVSU garnered the first two points of the fourth set, but the Pioneers rattled off five-straight to lead 8-4, holding onto the lead for the remainder of the frame. The Wildcats closed the gap to one but TU won seven of the next eight.
Ten of Tusculum's 13 kills in the fifth set came off of the hands of Svendsen (6) and Wingo (4). The latter bookended the frame with kills. TU got out to a 5-2 edge but a FVSU pause turned the tide as the Wildcats built a lead. At 12-10, Svendsen went back-to-back to tie the final set. Tusculum had to fight off two match-points, but Wingo and consecutive attack errors by the Wildcats earned TU the hard fought victory.
Match 2: Queens 3, Tusculum 0
The Royals (9-13) finished out their perfect day with a sweep of the Pioneers.
Queens posted a .303 hitting percentage as the host finished with 32 kills, 12 attack errors, and 66 attempts. Tusculum tallied a .118 clip with 26 kills and 17 errors on 76 attempts. The Royals recorded more assists (31-25), service aces (9-1), digs (26-21), and total blocks (8-7) than the Pioneers.
Chance Shampine (11) and Albert Warzocha (10) each reached double digits in kills, as the former hit a fiery .500. Cayden Marin distributed 29 assists, while Sev Allton notched a match-high three aces. Allton also scooped up a contest-best seven digs. Shaphar Grant finished with five block assists against his former Tusculum teammates.
Wingo led the Pioneers with seven kills, just ahead of both Landry and Svendsen with six points each. Six other players for TU found their way into the scoring column: Bramhall (2), Makovec (1), Cameron Reeder (1), Joel Dubinsky (1), Thiago Da Silva (1), and Shane O'Neal (1). Da Silva served as the setter in the nightcap, recording 20 assists and five digs, while Bramhall landed the lone Tusculum ace. Makovec was credited with four blocks, including three solo rejections.
