BANNER ELK, N.C. — The Tusculum men’s volleyball team got back in the win column on Tuesday (Feb. 4) night at Lees-McRae.
The Pioneers (4-7) kept the Bobcats winless (0-7) by scores of 29-27, 25-22, 25-12.
Jadon Ciriacks recorded 10 kills on a .304 hitting percentage to lead Lees-McRae offensively. Former Pioneer Thiago Da Silva dished out 22 assists for the Bobcats as Lleyton Starke landed the lone service ace. Ciriacks also finished with a match-high eight digs, while Sebastian Heer was credited with four total blocks at the net.
Deklan Wingo finished with 17 kills on a .448 clip as Tusculum’s offensive leader. Morgan Makovec (7), Joel Dubinsky (3), Aiden Roper (3), and Caleb Hammann (2) added kills to the column. Tyler Morrison, Riley Wisniakowski, and Reef Mathis rounded out the scoring with one kill apiece. Wisniakowski distributed 26 assists as Roper (3) and Dubinsky (2) were responsible for the aces. Roper headed up the back row defense with six digs, while Makovec was credited with a career-best seven blocks (three solo, four assists).
Lees-McRae hit .024 as a team with 25 kills and 23 errors on 84 total attempts. Tusculum hit .250 with 35 kills, 14 errors, and 84 total attacks. The Pioneers led the match in assists (31-25), service aces (5-1), and total blocks (9-5), while the Bobcats tallied more digs (31-27).
The first set featured seven ties and five lead changes. Lees-McRae hit -.061 aided by four blocks in the frame, with Makovec having a hand in all of them. Wingo landed seven kills to pace Tusculum. TU got out to a 5-3 lead before the Bobcats scored seven-straight. The Pioneers steadily chipped into the advantage, due in part to a 4-0 spurt starting a 19-15. LMC went back up 23-20 but followed with four attack errors in a row to put Tusculum in front. Lees-McRae fought off three set-points, taking a 27-26 edge. The Pioneers locked in for three scores to take the match lead.
Set two was also tightly-contested with 11 ties and three lead changes. Tusculum hit .321, while Lees-McRae had its lone positive hitting frame at .182. Wingo led the offense with an errorless 5-for-7 outing, while Makovec was also errorless on his 3-for-5 stint with three blocks. Neither team had more than a two-point separation until the Pioneers went on a 4-0, breaking the 12-all tie. The Bobcats battled back to force a late tie but consecutive kills by Wingo closed out the set in TU’s favor.
Tusculum led the final frame from start to finish, hitting a match-best .364 and holding Lees-McRae to a match-low -.111. The Bobcats only recorded four kills in the set while Wingo had five kills himself. The Pioneers landed all five of their aces in the set. TU went on a 6-0 spurt to lead 12-4, highlighted by all three of Roper’s aces. LMC managed to get back within six but the set and match were well in hand.
Tusculum returns home to Pioneer Arena for four of the next five matches, starting with Bluefield on February 11. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m.
