BLUEFIELD, Va. --- The Tusculum men's volleyball team beat the Bluefield College Rams once again on Tuesday night to bookend the head-to-head match ups between the squads.
The Pioneers (5-14) won the match by scores of 25-19, 25-17, 25-19 over the Rams (1-13).
Carleek Owens notched 10 kills for the home team, followed by Alex Duron with five. Caleb Word handed out all 19 assists, while Word and three teammates landed a service ace. Colby Mutter finished with a team-high nine digs, just ahead of seven by Owens. Bluefield is not credited with a block in the match.
Matteo Miselli and Shaun Kampshoff both reached double-figures in kills with 16 and 13, respectively. Miselli efficiently fired on a .433 hitting percentage. Lucas Blanco dished out 34 of the Pioneers' 36 assists. Kampshoff led the way at the service line, collecting a trio of aces, while Shaphar Grant was next with a pair. Peter Stewart headed up the dig category with his nine, followed by seven from Kampshoff. The Nevada native was credited with three block assists. Ivan Sosa contributed on a pair as well.
Bluefield hit .100 as a team with 24 kills and 16 attack errors in 80 total attempts. Tusculum hit .300 with 40 kills, 13 errors and 90 total attacks. The Pioneers led the Rams in assists (36-19), aces (7-4), and total blocks (4-0), while the teams tied with 31 digs.
Tusculum led off the night with a first set hitting percentage of .333, beginning off the bat with a kill from Arthur Amorim. The Pioneers shot out to a 18-10 lead, spurred by six kills from Miselli in the span. Bluefield shortened the advantage to five at 24-19 before a Hunter Walck swing closed the set.
The second frame was a bit tighter starting off with the teams trading points until Tusculum reached double-digits. As part of an 8-of-9 stretch, the Pioneers took a 14-9 lead and never looked back. To close the set, the Black and Orange won six of the last seven points, including consecutive aces by Grant.
Bluefield and Tusculum were all tied at seven at the outset of the third set. A steady dose of Miselli inched the Pioneers ahead, until Kampshoff took over at the line. A kill by the sophomore sent him back to serve where he landed two aces, alongside a Miselli kill, to put the Tennessee team up 22-15. Two service errors by the Rams and a Grant kill clinched the match for Tusculum in just over an hour.
Tusculum returns to the Old Dominion State on Saturday (March 14) for a meeting with Randolph-Macon, scheduled for a 6 p.m. first serve.
