CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky. --- The Tusculum University men's volleyball team topped Maryville (Mo.) in four sets for a bronze finish at the Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (IVA) Tournament.
The Pioneers (8-23) came from behind to defeat the Saints (21-8) by scores of 19-25, 25-23, 25-22, 30-28.
Luke Kraft finished with 15 kills for Maryville, followed by Makai Scott (12) and AJ Robateau (10). Cameron Chambers distributed 44 assists, while Kraft also landed two service aces. Chambers tallied a team-best 11 digs for a double-double. Jacob Fischer is credited with three solo blocks.
For Tusculum, three Pioneers reached double figures in kills: Colby Landry (18), Deklan Wingo (17), and Joel Dubinsky (12). Also recording kills were Morgan Makovec (6), Jaden Bramhall (5), and Tristan Blake (2). Blake dished out 51 assists as Bramhall and Landry both landed a pair of aces. Wingo and Blake rounded out their double-doubles with 11 and 10 digs, respectively. Makovec finished with a team-high three blocks.
Maryville hit .291 as a team with 59 kills and 20 attack errors on 134 total attempts. Tusculum hit .236 with 60 kills, 27 errors, and 140 total attacks. The Pioneers led the match in assist (59-54), service aces (5-4), and digs (51-43), while the Saints tallied more total blocks (7-5).
The Saints led the first set from start to finish, hitting .360 to Tusculum's .069. Maryville also recorded three total blocks in the frame. Dubinsky was the highlight for the Pioneers, going 4-for-5 on his swings. Bramhall was a perfect 2-for-2 on his attempts as well. MU held a seven-point lead at its highest (20-13) as a four-score surge caused the deficit for TU. Tusculum was able to fight off one set-point but the lead was too great to overcome.
Tusculum won the first point of set two on one of Wingo's five kills. Landry and Dubinsky contributed four each as the Pioneers also landed three aces. The frame was tied four times with four lead changes as well. The teams traded rallies across the set. After TU won the first point, Maryville rattled off four-straight. Tusculum responded with an identical bounce back. The Saints claimed six of the next seven scores to lead 10-6, forcing a Pioneer pause. Later on in the set, Tusculum went on an 8-2 spurt to lead 22-20. Maryville fought off one set-point but TU was able to hold off the Saints, 25-23.
Landry (6) and Wingo (5) combined for 11 kills in set three, while the Pioneer defense recorded 17 digs. Throughout, there were 11 ties and five lead changes. Maryville won the first two scores before Tusculum rattled off four-straight. The Saints went on to lead 12-9 as the Missouri team held the edge going into the midway point of the set. The teams traded scores before the Pioneers led 19-18, an advantage that they did not relent the rest of the way. Consecutive errors by Maryville caused the Saints to call for a timeout down 20-18. Wingo notched back-to-back kills after MU scored once to increase the edge for Tusculum. Two errors by the Saints and a kill from Bramhall ended up clinching the match lead for the Pioneers.
Set four needed overtime to decide a winner. Wingo (8) and Landry (6) notched 14 of the team's 20 kills in the frame. The TU defense added two solo blocks from Makovec and Blake. Due to the overtime, there were 15 ties and four lead changes in the final set. The Pioneers overcame an early 9-4 deficit with five-straight scores before falling behind 20-16 in the latter parts of the set. TU scored three in a row to trail 20-19, but Maryville went back-to-back. Wingo tallied a kill and consecutive attack errors from the Saints tied the set at 22-all. Tusculum faced set-point at 24-23 as Maryville looked to force a fifth set, but Bramhall came up big with a kill. Landry tied it up again at 25, while a service error from the Saints caused the 26-26 tie. Landry gave Tusculum the 27-26 edge but an error after a Saints' timeout sent the set into yet another deadlock. The senior gave TU the advantage once again, but Maryville survived another match point. At 28-28, Wingo landed a kill, while an attack error by the Saints clinched third place for Tusculum in their season finale.
