GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum men's volleyball team wrapped up the home portion of its schedule on Tuesday (Apr. 7) night with a 3-0 victory over Newberry. TU went 7-3 in Pioneer Arena this season, setting new three-set records in kills, attacks, and assists, while recording the second-most digs in the victory.
The Pioneers (14-8, 2-3 IVA) claimed the season series over the Wolves (5-15, 0-4 IVA) with their second sweep in 2026 by scores of 25-21, 25-21, 25-23.
Presston Anderson recorded 13 kills on a .387 hitting percentage to head up the Newberry attack. Greyson Crumpton dished out 28 assists, while Lucas Nieves landed a pair of service aces. Defensively, Nieves tallied seven digs as Ignacio Rodriguez took part in four blocks.
Three Pioneers reached double figures in kills: Aiden Roper (13), Reef Mathis (12), and Donovan Nye (10). Caleb Hamman landed a career-high eight kills on a .538 clip, just ahead of Morgan Makovec's seven on a .583 rate. Riley Wisniakowski was a perfect 4-for-4 on his attempts, while adding a three-set record 40 assists. Nye finished with three aces, as Wisniakowski came a dig short of a double-double with nine. Patrick Gresham scooped up eight digs as one of the liberos as well. Tusculum had three players with two total blocks: Mathis (two solo), Makovec (two assists), and Wisniakowski (one solo, one assist)
Newberry hit .242 as a team with 31 kills and nine errors on 91 total attempts. Tusculum hit .358 with 54 kills, 15 errors, and 109 total attacks. The Pioneers led the Wolves in assists (50-29), service aces (5-3), digs (41-31), and total blocks (5-4).
Newberry's only two leads of the contest came in the first set. Both teams hit match lows of .226 (NBY) and .324 (TU), but a massive run by the Pioneers changed the tide. Down 9-5, Tusculum called a timeout, leading to a 5-0 run, after which TU never trailed over the remainder of the match. The last tie of the frame came at 13-all as the Pioneers steadily expanded the gap, highlighted by a 4-0 spurt fueled by Wisniakowski and Mathis. Newberry forced late pressure but a strike by Nye clinched the set.
Tusculum hit a match-high .414 in the second set, which was surprisingly close in spite of a 17-7 kill differential in the home team's favor. Newberry forced seven ties, with the last coming at 18-18 after a three-point rally. The Pioneers went on their own 3-0 run but the Wolves kept pushing back. Up 22-20, Nye and Makovec forced the visitors to spend their last timeout with consecutive kills. Roper provided the set-clincher on a feed from Wisniakowski.
The Pioneers landed 20 kills in the third set alone, as the lone tie came two points in. Tusculum's lead reached seven (17-10), but Newberry refused to give in. The Wolves went on a 5-1 run to trail by just three (18-15). TU scored four of the next five (22-16) but Newberry was scrappy, winning six of the next seven to close the gap to one (23-22). Mathis landed a match-point before Newberry's final pause. The Wolves blocked a Pioneer attempt in the next rally. After a Newberry attack, the ball ricocheted around the TU side with Wisniakowski's tip-over dropping for the final point.
Tusculum finishes out the regular season at Lincoln Memorial on Saturday (Apr. 11) with a 2 p.m. first serve.
