GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum men's volleyball team defeated Belmont Abbey for the first time in program history on Wednesday (Mar. 12).
The Pioneers (11-8) beat the Crusaders (9-7) by scores of 19-25, 25-19, 25-23, 25-19.
Belmont Abbey had three players reach double figures in kills: Jibriel Elhaddad (11), Matthew Staskunas (10), and Ryan Charles (10). Joseph Morris tallied 38 assists and was one of three to record a pair of service aces, including Staskunas and Charles. Both Charles and Caden Day scooped up 10 digs. At the net, Elhaddad contributed in eight blocks.
Deklan Wingo's 18-kill, 21-dig double-double paced Tusculum in the win. His dig total reset the TU single-match record, becoming the first Pioneer to reach the 20-dig plateau. Morgan Makovec had himself an outing as well. He had career highs with 14 kills and eight blocks, while firing at a .722 clip. Aiden Roper (7), Donovan Nye (3), Caleb Hammann (2), Joel Dubinsky (1), and Kevin Blankenship (1) rounded out the scoring. Blankenship finished with 35 assists, a career-best, while Makovec added a pair of aces. Patrick Gresham joined Wingo with double-digit digs, tallying a collegiate-high 12.
Belmont Abbey hit .135 as a team with 48 kills and 29 errors on 141 total attempts. Tusculum hit .212 with 46 kills, 21 errors, and 118 total attacks. The Pioneers led the match in assists (44-43), digs (51-44), and total blocks (12.5-9), while the Crusaders recorded more service aces (6-4).
BAC came out firing, outhitting TU by a .200 margin (.357 to .154). There were five ties and two lead changes, all before either team reached 10 points on the board. Down 8-6, the Crusaders went on an 11-1 run. Makovec went 3-for-4 with three block assists, while Wingo added four kills. Tusculum was able to close the deficit to four at 21-17, but Belmont Abbey kept the momentum to win the first set.
The Pioneers flipped the script for set two, winning the second frame by the same score. Defense excelled with four blocks by TU and nine digs in the set by Wingo alone. The teams traded blows early as neither team had more than a three-point advantage until Tusculum led 14-10. TU's 6-1 run was highlighted by consecutive aces by Makovec and back-to-back rejections at the net, each featuring Hammann. Another 3-0 burst pushed the home lead to 18-13 after a triple block by Roper, Makovec, and Nye. Tusculum maintained the edge as Wingo tied the match with his third kill of the frame.
Set three featured seven ties early, with the lone lead change happening in the final points. Tusculum outhit Belmont Abbey .323 to .162 with a combined 10 kills from Wingo and Makovec. Down 21-18, TU needed a rally. Wingo landed a kill, followed by a block and a BAC attack error. The Crusaders won a pair of service points to lead 23-21. Belmont Abbey led the entire set until a 4-0 TU run to close the frame. Makovec tallied a kill and assisted in a block with Blankenship to tie the set. Wingo and Makovec went back-to-back with strikes to usurp the visitors at the end.
The final set was dominated by Tusculum, leading by as many as 11 at 19-8. There were a pair of lead changes within the first five scores, but TU kept firing and taking advantage of Belmont Abbey miscues. The Crusaders made a late push, but the early deficit was too great. BAC fought off four match-points until Wingo could be denied no longer.
Tusculum has a two-match series at Charleston this weekend. First match against the Golden Eagles is scheduled for Friday (Mar. 14) at 7 p.m.
