CHARLOTTE, N.C. --- The Tusculum University men's volleyball team fell in four sets to both Queens University of Charlotte and Barton College in a tri-match on Sunday (Jan. 19).
The Black and Orange (1-5) make their 2025 home debut on Tuesday (Jan. 21) night, hosting Quincy in a 6 p.m. match.
Match 1: Queens 3, Tusculum 1
The Royals (4-0) started off their home tri-match with a four-set victory over the Pioneers by scores of 25-22, 24-26, 25-15, 25-8.
Queens was led by 10 kills from Matthew Pilch on a .429 hitting percentage. Caleb Williams and Cayden Marin combined for 29 assists with 17 and 12, respectively. Rylan Colman added four service aces, while Chance Shampine finished with eight digs. Colman also accounted for five block assists.
Deklan Wingo totaled a match-best 18 kills, followed by Joel Dubinsky (8) and Donovan Nye (5). Morgan Makovec (2), Reef Mathis (2), Caleb Hammann (1), and Kai Williams (1) rounded out the scoring. Kevin Blankenship dished out 27 assists, while Dubinsky led the way with a pair of aces. Three Pioneers recorded five digs each: Wingo, Dubinsky, and Taylor West. TU was credited with three solo blocks as a team by Wingo, Makovec, and Aiden Roper. 13 Pioneers appeared in the match with debuts by Roper, Ty Keeble, and Tyler Morrison.
Queens finished the match with a .349 hitting percentage with 39 kills and 10 attack errors in 83 total attempts. Tusculum totaled 37 kills, 25 errors, and 93 swings for a .129 hitting clip. The Royals led the Pioneers in assists (35-33), service aces (15-4), and total blocks (8-3). The teams tied with 25 digs apiece.
Match 2: Barton 3, Tusculum 1
The Bulldogs (1-2) picked up their first win of 2025 over the Pioneers by scores of 18-25, 26-24, 25-20, 25-23.
Barton posted a .316 hitting percentage, finishing with 53 kills, 16 attack errors, and 117 attempts. Tusculum tallied a .320 clip with 60 kills and 21 errors on 122 attempts. The Pioneers led the match in assists (55-52), service aces (8-4), and digs (35-34), while the Bulldogs recorded more blocks (10-5).
Three Bulldogs finished with double-digit kills: Lawson Hink (18), Jack Sandahl (14), and Jake Adams (10). Seth Deppe dished out 46 assists, while Hink landed three aces. Adams was one dig shy of a double-double with nine scoops. At the net, Ben Wiechert was credited with five total blocks.
Wingo tied his career-high 24 kills on a .311 hitting clip. Dubinsky added a season-best 11 kills, while Caleb Hammann recorded seven kills on a .556 average. Makovec was an errorless 4-for-6 as Nye also finished with four kills. Roper and Riley Wisniakowski were perfect in three attempts, with Williams (2), Morrison (1), and Blankenship (1) rounding out the TU offense. Blankenship distributed a career-best 29 assists with Wisniakowski just behind with 20. Dubinsky landed four aces from behind the line. Defensively, West scooped up a season-high 10 digs and is just two from becoming the first Pioneer to reach 500 for a career. Tusculum was credited with five solo blocks: Wingo (2), Hammann (2), and Nye (1).
