WILSON, NC. --- Tusculum and Barton met on the court for the first time in men's volleyball, with the Pioneers collecting the win on Friday (Mar. 4) night. This is the second Conference Carolinas team to fall at the hands of the Pioneers in the last 10 days.
The Black and Orange (5-9) won by scores of 19-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-20 to continue the Bulldogs' slide (0-10).
Barton was led by 11 kills from Zach Reider on a .667 hitting percentage. Brandon Johnston added 10 kills, while Thomas Fanic went 9-for-11 on swings. Moses Kresch handed out 29 assists and three Bulldogs landed a service ace: Oscar Familia, Johnston, and Reider. Kresch also headed up the dig column with eight, just ahead of Levi Miller's seven. At the net, Johnston accounted for four total blocks (two solo, two assists), as Fanic and Reider each tallied three.
Tusculum had three players reach double-digit kills in the offensive outburst: Jake Whyte (15), Dane Loup (14), and Colby Landry (11). Whyte hit a fiery .387, while Loup notched a career-high and Landry matched his collegiate-best. Deklan Wingo added eight kills on .429 hitting, followed by Shaphar Grant (8), and Shaun Kampshoff (1). The setter Kampshoff dished out a career-high 49 assists, two shy of tying the program record. Whyte (3), Kampshoff (2), Loup (2), and Landry (1) accounted for the TU aces. Kampshoff collected a season-best eight digs, ahead of Whyte's six. In the front row, Wingo was credited with a pair of block assists to head up the defense.
Tusculum hit .120 in the opening frame, compared to .389 by Barton. The teams traded points until the 5-5 mark until the Bulldogs went on a 7-0 run, highlighted by three-straight blocks. TU was able to close the gap after 18-10 with a 7-2 spurt, but the final three points of the frame went to the home team.
The Pioneers' three aces in the second set provided the margin of victory to tie the match. Back-to-back service points by Loup handed TU the 4-3 lead which it never relinquished. A 7-1 run fueled by Landry and Whyte had Tusculum sitting pretty at 18-11. The Black and Orange kept the seven-point lead at 24-17 before Barton started to chip away. The Bulldogs fought off six set-points on a service run by Fanic before a miscue provided the needed point for TU.
Tusculum's best offensive outing of the night came in the third set. The Pioneers hit .429 in the frame with 16 kills on 28 swings, led by five kills from Loup. A service error by Barton, followed by a Wingo kill and consecutive aces by Whyte provided early separation for Tusculum. The largest lead of the set was five, coming at 22-17, after two-straight unforced Bulldog errors. Landry got the Pioneers to set-point, but Barton spoiled two chances for TU. Whyte landed the clinching kill to take a 2-1 match lead.
The Bulldogs only had five kills on a -.048 hitting percentage in the final set of the contest. Tusculum overshadowed Barton with 16 kills on a .379 offensive rate. Loup exploded in the frame as well, landing six kills on eight swings with no errors, while the Pioneer defense recorded all of its blocks in the set. Grant led off with a kill, but the home team went on mini-runs of three. A kill by Landry handed TU the lead for the final time at 14-13. Kills by Whyte, Landry, Loup, and Grant forced Barton to take both of its timeouts within a four-point span. Grant landed his third kill of the frame to set up match-point and Barton started to make its crunch-time run. TU head coach Bryan Buckius called a timeout before the Bulldogs could gain too much momentum. A strike by Whyte for his match-best 15th kill was the last point, wrapping up the Pioneer win.
Barton ended the match with a .218 hitting percentage with 34 kills and 15 attack errors on 87 total attempts. Tusculum totaled a season-high 57 kills, 24 errors, and 115 swings for a .287 hitting percentage. The Pioneers led the match in aces (8-3), assists (55-34), and digs (32-28), while the Bulldogs had the block advantage (10.5-3). This was TU's third time reaching the 50-kill plateau this season.
Tusculum continues its weekend trip to the Tar Heel State by paying a visit to Mount Olive on Saturday (Mar. 5). The Pioneers and Trojans have set first serve at 6 p.m.
