GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum men's volleyball team conquered Erskine on Friday (Jan. 16) night to move to 2-0 at home in Pioneer Arena.
The Pioneers (2-1) stayed undefeated at home on the young season, downing the Flying Fleet (1-1) by scores of 25-23, 25-15, 25-22.
This marks TU's best start to a season in program history through three contests. The previous best was 1-2 during the inaugural 2020 campaign.
True Bauer led Erskine with eight kills, while Tyler Kuehl landed seven kills on 13 swings for a .538 hitting percentage. Gino Briglio finished with a team-best 18 assists and accounted for a pair of service aces. Libero Mikey Widmyer collected a match-high 13 digs, while Kuehl participated in both blocks for the Flying Fleet.
Aiden Roper upped his career-high for the second-straight night, registering 13 kills on a .391 clip in the victory. Reef Mathis also notched a new best with nine kills on a .348, while Morgan Makovec was near automatic, landing eight kills on nine swings (.889). Cooper Sadleir (4), Riley Wisniakowski (2), and Caleb Hammann (1) rounded out the offense. Wisniakowski added a season-best 32 assists and was one of four Pioneers to record an ace: Makovec, Adam Svendsen, and Kai Williams. The setter also scooped up a team-high seven digs, the most for a TU player this campaign. Makovec, Sadleir, and Wisniakowski each had a hand in two rejections.
Erskine hit .101 as a team with 31 kills and 22 errors on 89 total attempts. Tusculum hit .346 with 37 kills, nine errors, and 81 total attacks. The Pioneers led the Flying Fleet in assists (34-29) and total blocks (6-2), while the teams tied with four service aces and 31 digs.
The first set featured eight ties with Tusculum forcing the only lead change at 4-3. Erskine won three of the first four points before a three-point surge by the Pioneers. Both the Flying Fleet (.156) and TU (.417) had a match-best hitting percentage in the frame. Neither team led by more than two until three-straight kills by Mathis, including back-to-back on overpasses after a Makovec serve (11-8). Tusculum grew the advantage to five at 14-9 behind consecutive attack errors by Erskine. The visitors shrunk the lead back to one at 16-15, forcing ties at 19, 20, 21, and 22. A kill by Makovec and Svendsen's ace earned TU set-point but EC fought it off. Makovec provided the set-clinching tally with a kill.
Erskine looked poised to tie the match at 1-all with a strong start to the second frame. The Flying Fleet shot out to a 4-0 lead before a Tusculum timeout. The Pioneers finished the set on a 25-11 run. TU hit .357 compared to EC's .080, with six ties and three lead changes. Squared at 10-10, Tusculum rattled off an 12-2 rally, aided by four unforced errors by the Flying Fleet and two Pioneer blocks. TU needed just three more scores to go up 2-0 in the match, getting kills from Roper, Sadleir, and Makovec.
Tusculum led the third set until the midway point when Erskine jostled for position. However, the Pioneers quickly regained the lead at 15-14, which they held for the remainder of the match. TU's advantage bounced between one to three scores until a 3-0 spurt sent the home team to match-point (24-20). Erskine benefitted from a pair of Tusculum attack errors before Roper clinched the sweep for the Pioneers.
The Pioneers have a rematch with Emmanuel next Friday (Jan. 23) at 6 p.m. in Georgia.
