GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum men's volleyball team ended the extended homestand with its fifth consecutive victory in Pioneer Arena, beating Lees-McRae in four sets on Wednesday (Mar. 5) night.
The Pioneers (8-8) completed the season sweep of the Bobcats (3-15) by scores of 25-20, 25-20, 24-26, 25-17.
Austin Beaird tallied a team-high 14 kills for Lees-McRae on a .370 hitting percentage, followed by 10 strikes from Lincoln Scofield. Thiago Da Silva dished out 36 assists, while Scofield led the way with a pair of service aces. Defensively, Da Silva and Beaird both finished with five digs. At the net, Sebastian Heer recorded four total blocks.
Deklan Wingo totaled 19 kills on a .429 clip, just ahead of Joel Dubinsky's career-best 13 kills on a .409 average. Morgan Makovec hit .583 to land eight kills, while Aiden Roper finished with six kills at a .500 rate. Caleb Hammann (4) and Riley Wisniakowski (1) rounded out the scoring. The latter distributed 41 assists, as Wingo landed a collegiate-high six aces. Both libero Taylor West and Wisniakowski accounted for five digs. Makovec was credited with three total blocks.
Lees-McRae hit .289 as a team with 44 kills and 16 errors on 97 total attempts. Tusculum hit .422 with 51 kills, 13 errors, and 90 total attacks. The Pioneers led the Bobcats in assists (46-43), service aces (10-4), digs (30-24), and total blocks (7-6).
The first set featured just one tie at 1-1. From then until the third set, Tusculum led. The Pioneers hit .591, highlighted by a perfect 6-for-6 start by Wingo. Neither team gained more than a three-score advantage until TU pulled ahead 10-6 on one of five kills by Dubinsky in the opener. Tusculum maintained the edge, but three-straight points for a LMC timeout at 18-11. Lees-McRae managed to get back within four on an ace but a service error and solo rejection by Wisniakowski earned TU the match lead.
Tusculum continued its hot start by hitting .471 with four aces in the second set. Wingo and Roper combined for six kills on 11 attempts with no errors. Hammann, Wisniakowski, and Dubinsky gave the Pioneers an early 3-0 edge with a kill, ace, and block. After a kill by Lees-McRae, seven of the following nine scores were via service errors. TU went on a 6-1 run, forcing a Bobcat pause. The Pioneers were the beneficiaries of miscues, expanding the advantage on a solo block by Wingo and an ace by Makovec. Down 20-12, LMC made a late rally but kills by Wingo, Roper, and Makovec gave TU the frame.
The third set was easily the most contested with 15 ties and six lead changes, the first of the match. Lees-McRae ended up narrowly outhitting Tusculum .269 to .259. LMC also tallied more blocks than TU in the frame, while Dubinsky, Wingo, and Makovec recorded four kills apiece. The Pioneers trailed 19-16 before tying the set behind a kill by Dubinsky and back-to-back Wingo aces. TU continued the rally to force match-point at 24-21. After a timeout, Lees-McRae rattled off five-straight scores, all on Pioneer miscues.
Tusculum hit .417 in the fourth set, which saw the only lead change within the first seven scores. TU landed three aces, while Wingo tallied five kills and Makovec was a perfect 3-for-3. Down 2-0 in the early going, the Pioneers went on a 5-1 spurt, including three of Wingo's points. Lees-McRae was held at bay until a home 6-1 rally put TU up 15-10. Tusculum kept the pressure on and closed the contest on a 6-1 run.
Tusculum remains in-state but hits the road to King on Saturday (Mar. 8). First serve between the Pioneers and Tornado is scheduled for 2 p.m.
