GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University men's volleyball team is set to play in its second Independent Volleyball Association (IVA) Championship this weekend (Apr. 22-23), hosted by Queens University of Charlotte. The Pioneers are ranked fourth in the South division and open with the top northern team in Daemen on Friday (Apr. 22) at 1:30 p.m.

As part of the 2022 IVA Championship three-match guarantee, Tusculum will play again at 7:30 p.m. on Friday night against the winner/loser of the match between host Queens (No. 2 South) and D'Youville (No. 3 North). The top half of the bracket features Lincoln Memorial (No. 1 South) facing Alderson Broaddus (No. 4 North) and Limestone (No. 3 South) taking on Fairleigh Dickinson (No. 2 North).

Saturday's (Apr. 23) schedule includes seventh and fifth place matches at 10:30 a.m., the third place match at 2:00 p.m. and the tournament championship at 5 p.m.

RECAPPING THE WEEK
Tusculum (6-19) last played the weekend of April 8-9, beating Edwards Waters in five sets on Senior Night before falling in straight-sets at Lincoln Memorial.

Jake Whyte headed up the TU attack with 24 kills on the weekend, ahead of Dane Loup (19), Colby Landry (17), Shaphar Grant (11), Shaun Kampshoff (6), and Hunter Walck (4). Shaun Kampshoff handed out 68 assists and landed 11 service aces. Walck and Whyte added six and three aces, respectively. Kampshoff (14) and Taylor West (11) finished with double-digit digs across the two matches. At the net, Grant averaged a block per set with eight total (four solo, four assists).

On the season, Whyte leads the offense with 270 kills, while Landry follows with 179. Loup and Grant are close behind with 172 and 146 kills, respectively. Kampshoff has handed out 783 assists and landed 55 service aces. Three Pioneers have at least 100 digs on the season: Taylor West (122), Kampshoff (118), and Loup (106). Grant has tallied 65 blocks (19 solo, 46 assists), ahead of Deklan Wingo's 46 (10 solo, 36 assists).

Nationally, Tusculum ranks eighth in aces per set (1.63) and 27th in attacks per set (26.53). Individually, Kampshoff is second in aces per set (0.604) and 26th in assists per set (8.57). Whyte is 21st in attacks per set with an 8.04 average.

LOOKING AHEAD
Daemen (14-5) leads the country with 2.19 aces per set, eighth in winning percentage (.737), ninth in hitting percentage (.312), 13th in opponent hitting percentage (.221), and 27th in kills per set (11.74). Zach Schneider leads the Wildcats with 213. kills, an average of 3.38 per set, while firing on a .312 clip. Michael Krueger has dished out 395 assists, followed by 193 by Robert Patzer. Schneider and Jake Couzens are tied with a team-best 30 aces. Ryan Parker and Schneider have the most digs with 98 and 94 digs, respectively. Couzens (48) and Henry Moffitt (43) have been the primary net defenders and are credited with a combined 91 total blocks.

Links to live stats and video for Tusculum University athletic events can be found through tusculumpioneers.com.