GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University men's volleyball team won a thriller on Friday night (Mar. 17) to send the four Pioneer seniors (Shaphar Grant, Jacob Rambo, Jake Whyte, and Hunter Walck) out in style. TU has now won four of its last five matches.
The Pioneers (7-12) defeated the Wildcats (5-13) by scores of 25-22, 19-25, 25-20, 25-21.
Fort Valley State had two players with double-digit kills in Isaiah Fedd (12) and Taviian Martin (11). Justin Yates finished with six kills on eight attempts, alongside 32 assists. Yates was also one of two Wildcats to record a service ace, joined by Jaxon Hicks. Hicks and Yates also led FVSU with a team-best six digs. Defensively, Fedd (one solo, three assists) and Rashaun Wright (two solo, two assists) were credited with four total blocks.
Deklan Wingo (14) and Jake Whyte (13) combined for over half of Tusculum's kills on the night. Joining the pair in the offensive scoring were Colby Landry (8), Shaphar Grant (6), Hunter Walck (6), and Jaden Bramhall (2). Walck went 6-for-7 on his swings to efficiently hit .857. Bramhall dished out 45 assists as the setter. In a double-digit ace outing, six Pioneers tallied at least one ace: Landry (3), Grant (2), Bramhall (2), Wingo (1), Walck (1), and James Ward (1). Landry finished with a match-high eight digs, ahead of Bramhall's six. Both liberos (Taylor West and Jacob Rambo) scooped up four digs apiece, a career-best for the latter. Bramhall had a collegiate-high five total blocks (two solo, three assists), one more than Grant (one solo, three assists).
Fort Valley State hit .307 as a team with 48 kills and 17 errors on 101 total attempts. Tusculum averaged .259 with 49 kills, 21 errors, and 108 total attacks. The Pioneers led the Wildcats in assists (47-40), service aces (10-2), and digs (32-27), while the teams tied with eight total blocks apiece.
FVSU won the match's first point, but TU soon took the lead behind 16 kills in the opening frame. The first two kills for Tusculum came courtesy of Whyte. Both he and Wingo landed five kills in the set, while Bramhall took part in two blocks. The Pioneers opened up their biggest lead (14-7), spurred on by a four-point run. The Wildcats attempted a late rally, winning 5-of-7, but Wingo clinched the match lead.
The second set was won by Fort Valley State, featuring six ties and two lead swaps. Tusculum recorded a match-high three blocks in the frame. Grant led the way with three kills for the TU offense. The teams kept within a two-score window until four-straight Wildcat points forced a Tusculum timeout. The Pioneers were not able to close the gap to less than four over the remainder of the set.
With the match tied at 1-all, Tusculum responded by leading the third frame from start to finish. Despite their worst hitting performance on the night, the Pioneers used seven aces and three blocks to earn the hard-fought win. Walck went 3-for-3 in the frame to head up the attack. The Pioneers won the first four points of the set behind kills by Grant and Whyte, an ace by Bramhall, and a solo rejection by Grant. Consecutive aces by Landry extended the lead to five. Grant also had two-straight aces to give the Pioneers a 10-3 edge. The Wildcats made a late push, but the TU advantage was too great.
Tusculum saved its best for last, hitting .556 in the final set. Wingo was nearly perfect on eight swings, tallying seven kills. The frame saw four ties and three lead changes, but no more after five-straight TU points. Walck, Whyte, and Landry landed a kill each, surrounding a Wingo ace. FVSU was able to narrow the gap to one on two occasions but ill-timed errors by the Wildcats benefitted the Pioneers, sealing the match win.
Tusculum plays its last home match of 2023 on Wednesday (Mar. 22). TU hosts the rematch against the Lees-McRae Bobcats at 7 p.m. in Pioneer Arena.
