MIAMI SHORES, Fla. — The fourth-seeded Tusculum men’s volleyball team rallied to defeat fifth-seeded Merrimack on Thursday (Apr. 16) afternoon in five sets. This marks the first time that the Pioneers and Warriors have ever met in any team sport in recorded history.
The Pioneers (15-9) downed the Warriors (10-12) in a thrilling five-set battle by scores of 19-25, 26-18, 21-25, 25-20, 15-13. TU has now matched last season’s record win total.
Dallas Birkenbeuel led MC with 18 kills, while Reece Lindstrom recorded 43 assists. Both Max Tkachev and Jack Johnson landed a pair of service aces. Kyle Standage finished with 17 digs, as Nick Tidik assisted in four blocks.
Morgan Makovec recorded 17 kills on a .571 hitting percentage, ahead of 12 kills from both Aiden Roper and Donovan Nye. Reef Mathis added six kills, followed by five from Riley Wisniakowski and two by Caleb Hammann. Wisniakowski dished out 41 assists and the third-most digs for a Pioneer all-time with 17 for another double-double. Nye and Ian Johnson were responsible for the TU aces. Both Nye and Patrick Gresham reached double figures in digs with 14 and 12, respectively. This was the first time that Nye has reached double digit digs in his collegiate career. At the net, Hammann was credited with four block assists.
Merrimack hit .252 as a team with 57 kills and 20 errors on 147 total attempts. Tusculum hit .288 with 54 kills, 14 errors, and 139 total attacks. The Warriors recorded more assists (52-51) and service aces (5-2), while the Pioneers tallied more digs (64-60) and blocks (8-6).
Merrimack won the first set after leading from start to finish, hitting .500 in the frame. Tusculum was a bit slow to start as the Pioneers trailed 6-3 with all three points coming on Warrior service errors. MC grew the advantage to four (9-5) to force TU to call a timeout. The Pioneers responded with three-straight scores, but Merrimack went on a strong stretch to lead 17-12 as TU called for another pause. The Warriors kept the momentum to win by six (25-19).
Tusculum came out in set two to land a match-best 14 kills and scooped up 19 digs amongst 10 ties and two lead changes. The Pioneers took the lead for good at 7-6 after consecutive attack errors by Merrimack. The Warriors forced their last tie at 10-all before TU went on a 4-0 spurt. MC brought it back to a two-point margin, but Tusculum took off after the 19-16 score. The Pioneers rattled off five-straight, including three kills by Mathis, and six of the last seven.
The third set was the most contested, featuring 12 ties and three lead changes. Merrimack was solid on both ends with 17 kills and 17 digs. The teams were not separated by more than two points until TU’s first ace of the contest by Nye at 11-8. The Warriors came out of their timeout on a 4-1 spurt to keep the set in the two-point range. Down 15-14, MC went on a 5-0 run, in which the Pioneers spent both timeouts, to spur the 2-1 match advantage.
Tusculum allowed just one tie (1-1) in a dominant fourth set. The Pioneers recorded five blocks to hold the Warriors to a -.083 clip on just six kills. TU was up 4-1 early behind back-to-back blocks by Wisniakowski and Makovec. Merrimack cut the lead to one (9-8) before a 5-1 rally by Tusculum forced a timeout, highlighted by two kills by Makovec. The Warriors landed consecutive aces but a Pioneer pause at 16-14 righted the ship. MC got back in to a two-point range at 21-19, yet TU won four of the final five scores.
The Pioneers saved their best for last, hitting a match-high 450 for 10 kills. Merrimack won the first two points of the frame and three of the first four. However, Tusculum bounced back with four-straight scores behind the efforts of Johnson at the service line and Makovec on the front row. TU did not surrender the lead once the team had it. Up 7-6, Tusculum went on a 4-1 spurt. The Warriors challenged, bringing the score to 14-13, but Roper clinched the semifinal berth.
Tusculum faces top seed Lincoln Memorial in the first semifinal on Friday (Apr. 17) at 2 p.m. on the campus of Barry University. The winner goes to the championship match on Saturday (Apr. 18) at 3 p.m.
