CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky. — The Tusculum University men’s volleyball team is set to play in its fourth Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (IVA) Championship this weekend (Apr. 12-13), hosted by Thomas More University. The Pioneers are seeded fourth and will face No. 1 Lincoln Memorial at 7 p.m. on Friday.
The Railsplitters earned the top seed at the IVA event, courtesy of a 19-5 (6-0 IVA) record, winning the last four championships. Maryville (Mo.) is the No. 2 seed with its 21-6 (5-1 IVA) mark, while host Thomas More notched a 15-11 (2-5 IVA) to collect the No. 3 seed. The Pioneers round out the field at 7-22 (1-5 IVA).
RECAPPING THE SEASON
Tusculum (7-22) wrapped up the regular season on Tuesday (Apr. 9) with a home match against King, winning in straight sets.
Both Colby Landry and Deklan Wingo reached double figures in kills with 13 and 12, respectively, as each hit over .500. Joel Dubinsky (6), Jaden Bramhall (4), Morgan Makovec (3), and Tristan Blake (1) rounded out the scoring. Blake dished out 32 assists as the Pioneer setter. Defensively, Blake also led the way with nine digs, just ahead of Landry’s eight. At the net, Bramhall had a hand in three blocks, including a solo rejection.
On the season, Wingo has recorded 342 kills, followed by Landry (271) and Makovec (142) in triple digits. Blake has collected 809 assists at an 8.99 per set rate. Three Pioneers have landed 16 service aces: Blake, Landry, and Wingo. Makovec and Bramhall are close behind with 13 and 11, respectively. Four teammates have surpassed 100 digs: Wingo (135), Taylor West (123), Blake (122), and Landry (122). Makovec is heading up the net defense with 59 total blocks as both his solo rejections (18) and assists (41) are tops on the team.
Nationally, Wingo is 21st in attacks per set (8.02) and 26th in kills per set (3.42), both of which are tops across the independents.
LOOKING AHEAD
Lincoln Memorial is 10-0 all-time against the Pioneers. The Railsplitters are within the top-10 nationally across five categories: opponent hitting percentage (5th; .205), hitting percentage (6th; .328), match win-loss percentage (6th; .792), aces per set (t-9th; 1.67), and kills per set (10th; 12.55). They also lead the independent teams in assists per set (11.48) and blocks per set (2.12). Individually, Matthew Gentry is second nationally in hitting percentage (.451), while Kohl Kutsch is fifth in assists per set (10.20). Gentry is also 11th in blocks per set (1.01).
Links to live stats and video for Tusculum University athletic events can be found through tusculumpioneers.com.
2024 IVA Men’s Volleyball Championship (hosted by Thomas More University)
Friday, April 12th:
Match A: No. 3 seed Thomas More vs. No. 2 seed Maryville, 4:00pm (Semi-Final #1)
Match B: No. 4 seed Tusculum vs. No. 1 seed Lincoln Memorial, 7:00pm (Semi-Final #2)
