TIGERVILLE, S.C. --- The Tusculum men's volleyball team beat North Greenville for the first time in program history on Tuesday (Jan. 28) night.
The Pioneers (3-5) upset the Trailblazers (1-2) by scores of 25-20, 23-25, 25-23, 25-21.
Thomas Roper, elder brother of TU's Aiden Roper, led North Greenville with 15 kills, ahead of Parker Gantt's 11 strikes. Logan Taylor distributed 30 assists as both Michael de la Cruz and Carter Schomock landed a pair of service aces. Jhavier Delgado finished with a team-best 11 digs, while Jacob Koch was credited six total blocks.
Deklan Wingo backed up his National Player of the Week pick with 26 kills on a .308 hitting percentage, recording his fifth career double-double alongside 12 digs. Joel Dubinsky tallied nine kills, followed by Morgan Makovec's errorless eight kills on a .533 clip. Aiden Roper (5), Caleb Hammann (2), Taylor West (1), and Riley Wisniakowski (1) rounded out the scoring. Wisniakowski dished out a career-best 40 assists, a season-high for the Pioneer setters. Dubinsky, Wingo, Roper, and Hammann were responsible for the TU aces. West tied his career-high with 15 digs as both Makovec and Roper were credited with three total blocks.
North Greenville hit .185 as a team with 46 kills and 21 errors on 135 total attempts. Tusculum hit .271 with 52 kills, 20 errors, and 118 total attacks. The Trailblazers finished with more service aces (6-4) and total blocks (7-6), while the Pioneers tallied more assists (45-44) and digs (48-39).
Wingo started the match out strong, recording eight of Tusculum's 12 kills in the frame. The first set featured three ties and two lead changes. With the set tied at 5-all, the Pioneers went on a four-point spurt to force a timeout by NGU. The run was spurred by three errors by the Trailblazers, including a solo block by TU's Roper. A 3-0 run put Tusculum up 13-7, highlighted by Hammann's ace. The Pioneers kept the momentum up with Wingo clinching the match advantage.
The second set went to NGU despite 16 kills on a .323 clip by TU. Wingo landed seven kills, while Makovec was 3-for-4 with no errors. The frame saw five ties and one lead change, which occurred three points in. North Greenville also landed a match-best three aces. The teams stayed within three scores of one another until the Trailblazers took a 16-12 lead. The Pioneers proceeded to win six of the next eight points, including a 4-0 run, to tie the set at 18-18. NGU came out of the timeout with three-straight points and TU was unable to recover.
Tusculum was able to come back from a four-point deficit at 8-4 to retake a lead at 15-14. The Pioneers used consecutive blocks featuring Makovec to create a bit of separation. However, NGU made a late run that TU withstood thanks to kills by Wingo and Dubinsky. The Trailblazers hit .105 in the third set due in part to three Tusculum blocks involving five Pioneers (Dubinsky, Wingo, Makovec, Hammann, and Wisniakowski).
Set four saw six ties and three lead changes as Tusculum hit .290. Wingo notched seven kills, while West tallied half of TU's 14 digs. The Pioneers also landed a match-high three aces. The visitors went on several spurts beginning at 5-5 to pull ahead by a sizable margin. The Trailblazers did not help themselves as there were multiple unforced errors late in the frame.
Tusculum continues its road trip with a two-match stint at Ball State (Jan. 30-31). Both night's matches are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. This will be the fourth ranked opponent of the month as the Cardinals are No. 8 in the latest poll.
