BANNER ELK, N.C. --- The Tusculum men's volleyball team fell to the Lees-McRae Bobcats on Tuesday night, despite many team and individual records being set. As a squad, five new marks were made, while three Pioneers created new personal highs.
The Bobcats (1-9) won by scores of 22-25, 26-24, 25-18, 25-19 to win over the Pioneers (3-10). This is just the second time that Tusculum has played to four sets and have lost both contests.
Lees-McRae was led offensively by Drew Sims and his 12 kills, followed by eight from Ethan Gardner. Bradley Peters handed out 26-of-29 assists on the evening and also tallied five service aces. Steven Nalls scooped up 11 digs, while Peters had seven. Three Bobcats are credited with three total blocks: Ace Backer (two solo, one assist), Max Kuntz (one solo, two assists), and Gardner (three assists).
Matteo Miselli shattered the career and program mark in kills with 25, besting his former personal high of 14. Mackenzie Scott also set a personal-best with 10 kills, followed by six from Tom Kait. Lucas Blanco dished out 31 assists, while Miselli added a team-leading two aces. Jaret Knight also set a new high for both the lineup and himself with 15 digs. Three personal-bests in digs were collected as well: Miselli (8), Scott (6), and Kait (5). At the net, Shaphar Grant and Miselli headed up the Pioneer defense with two block assists each.
As a team, Tusculum established new records with 111 attacks (previous high of 78), 45 digs (previous high of 24), 50 kills (previous high of 42), 48 assists (previous high of 40), and 26 service errors (previous high of 25).
Lees-McRae ended the match with a .220 hitting percentage with 36 kills and 14 attack errors in 100 total attempts. Tusculum totaled 50 kills, 21 errors, and 111 swings for a .261 hitting percentage. The Pioneers led the Bobcats in assists (48-29) and digs (45-38), while the home team collected more aces (12-5) and total blocks (7-4).
Tusculum will begin to wrap up its extended road swing with a trip to Fort Wayne, Indiana. The Pioneers and Indiana Tech meet on Friday with a 7 p.m. start.
