GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — The Tusculum men’s volleyball team split the season series with Catawba, after the Catawba Indians pulled off a five-set comeback on Friday (Apr. 11) night.
The Pioneers (14-12, 2-3 IVA) were defeated by the Catawba Indians (13-10, 1-1 IVA) by scores of 28-26, 21-25, 26-16, 28-30, 11-15.
Trevor Phillips recorded 27 kills on a .340 hitting percentage to pace Catawba. Kristian Smith dished out 51 assists, while Eli Zdonek and John Cordray landed the service aces. Zdonek and libero Max Adkisson reached double figures in digs with 13 and 10, respectively. Luke O’Neill had a hand in 10 block assists.
Deklan Wingo landed a program-record 31 kills, becoming the first in team history to reach the 30-kill mark. Joel Dubinsky (12) and Morgan Makovec (10) also reached double digits, followed by Aiden Roper (3), Caleb Hammann (2), and Kevin Blankenship (1). The latter finished with 47 assists as Wingo totaled a match-high two aces. Wingo also led with 10 digs to round out his double-double. Hammann was credited with a career-best seven blocks.
Catawba hit .224 as a team with 65 kills and 31 errors on 152 total attempts. Tusculum hit .199 with 59 kills, 29 errors, and 151 total attacks. The Pioneers led the match in service aces (4-2) and total blocks (13-12), while the Catawba Indians tallied more assists (63-56) and digs (48-47).
Tusculum wraps up the regular season on Saturday (Apr. 12) with 7:30 p.m. rematch against Thomas More. The Pioneers will celebrate Deklan Wingo for Senior Night prior to the match.
Short Box Score (Match)
2025 Tusculum Men’s Volleyball
Catawba vs Tusculum (Apr 11, 2025 at Greeneville, Tenn.)
Catawba def. Tusculum 26-28, 25-21, 16-25, 30-28, 15-11
Catawba (13-10, 1-1 IVA) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Phillips, Trevor 27-0-5; Cordray, John 16-1-2; Zdonek, Eli 12-1-3; O’Neill, Luke 4-0-10; Eastin, Wyatt 3-0-0; Brown, Jacob 2-0-0; Smith, Kristian 1-0-4; Totals 65-2-12.0. (Assists) – Smith, Kristian 51. (Dig leaders) – Zdonek, Eli 13; Adkisson, Max 10; Smith, Kristian 9
Tusculum (14-12, 2-3 IVA) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Deklan Wingo 31-2-3; Joel Dubinsky 12-0-5; Morgan Makovec 10-1-4; Aiden Roper 3-0-0; Caleb Hammann 2-0-7; Kevin Blankenship 1-1-2; Totals 59-4-13.0. (Assists) – Kevin Blankenship 47. (Dig leaders) – Deklan Wingo 10; Joel Dubinsky 8; Patrick Gresham 8; Kevin Blankenship 8
Site: Greeneville, Tenn. (Pioneer Arena)
Date: Apr 11, 2025 Attend: 144 Time: 2:19
