SALISBURY, N.C. --- The Tusculum men's volleyball team won the first-ever match against Catawba on Friday (Apr. 4) night.
The Pioneers (14-11, 2-2 IVA) defeated the Catawba Indians (12-10, 0-1 IVA) by scores of 25-17, 23-25, 25-19, 25-23.
Trevor Phillips finished with 21 kills on a .419 hitting percentage to lead Catawba. Kristian Smith dished out 32 assists as he and former Pioneer Cam Reeder landed the service aces. Defensively, Max Adkisson finished with a match-high 10 digs and Luke O'Neill was credited with three block assists.
For Tusculum, Deklan Wingo recorded 26 kills on a .558 clip, followed by Morgan Makovec's 12 strikes on a .579 rate. Joel Dubinsky (8), Aiden Roper (7), and Caleb Hammann (4) rounded out the scoring. Kevin Blankenship distributed 50 assists, while both Wingo and Makovec landed a pair of aces. Wingo was a dig shy of a double-double, one more than Blankenship. At the net, Wingo and Makovec were credited with four total blocks.
Catawba hit .280 as a team with 54 kills and 19 errors on 125 total attempts. Tusculum hit .373 with 57 kills, 13 errors, and 118 total attacks. The Pioneers led the Catawba Indians in assists (54-52), service aces (6-2), digs (46-38), and total blocks (10-5.5).
Tusculum started out the match strong, outhitting Catawba .646 to .136. Wingo and Roper combined to hit 7-for-10 in the frame as the team combined for three blocks. The teams tied three times but TU left throughout. Wingo landed the first and last kill of the night. The Pioneers used a 4-0 run to go out to a 7-3 advantage. Tusculum used back-to-back blocks to keep the lead at four (14-10). TU extended the edge to 22-15 with consecutive errors and an ace by Ty Keeble. Another two unforced errors by Catawba preceded a Dubinsky kill to close out the set.
Catawba took the second set, outhitting TU .265 to .171. The teams had eight ties and two lead changes. TU got out to a 17-11 lead before the Catawba Indians started their run. The home team rattled off a 7-1 spurt to tie the frame at 18-all. The Pioneers regained the lead at 20-19 and Catawba scored four-straight. Tusculum fought off two set-points but Catawba tied the match.
Set three was hot-hitting on both sides with Tusculum hitting .571 to Catawba's .478. TU led from start to finish, minus two ties, within the first five scores. Wingo landed eight kills, while Makovec went 3-for-5. The Pioneers shot out to a 7-2 advantage as the Indians got no closer than three until 13-11. Wingo rattled off three-straight kills to extend the lead to 17-11. The teams traded scores as the visitors led 2-1 overall.
Wingo landed nine kills in the Pioneers fourth-set win. Makovec went off for a 4-for-6 frame with two aces and two blocks. As a team, Tusculum recorded four blocks and three aces. TU led most of the way. Down 19-16, Catawba rallied for three-straight kills. Tied at 20-all, the Pioneers rattled off four-straight scores, including both of Makovec's aces. However, Catawba wanted to force a fifth set, fighting off three match-points. Wingo closed out the contest the way he began it, with a kill.
Tusculum and Catawba will meet again in one week (Apr. 11) at Pioneer Arena with a 6 p.m. start time.
