GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum men's volleyball team finished out the season series with King on Friday (Apr. 3) night in Pioneer Arena.
The Pioneers (13-8) swept the Tornado (4-20) for the second time this season by scores of 29-27, 25-19, 25-21.
Carson Pliapol finished with 11 kills to lead King offensively. Joao Pedro Ribeiro dished out 28 assists, while Pliapol added a pair of service aces. Ribeiro and Javier Saldivar each scooped up six digs. At the net, Dalton Claiborne had a hand in five blocks.
Reef Mathis led Tusculum with 11 kills, just ahead of Morgan Makovec's 10-for-12 (.833) outing. Donovan Nye added nine strikes, followed by Aiden Roper (6), and Caleb Hammann (2). Riley Wisniakowski finished with 37 of the 38 assists for the Pioneers. At the service line, Makovec tallied a trio. Wisniakowski rounded out his double-double with 12 digs as Patrick Gresham added eight. Hammann assisted in five blocks defensively.
King hit .098 as a team with 30 kills and 21 errors on 92 total attempts. Tusculum hit .143 with 38 kills, 24 errors, and 98 total attacks. The Pioneers led the Tornado in assists (38-29), service aces (6-3), digs (35-25), and total blocks (11-6).
The teams tied an incredible 22 times in the first set with neither squad leading by more than two at any point. Tusculum was the first to reach set-point at 24-23, forcing King's second timeout. The Pioneers were able to string together back-to-back points at the 27-all mark. Nye landed a kill before Roper rejected the Tornado attempt for another tie with a solo block. TU scooped up 19 digs and added five blocks, holding King to a match-low .044 hitting percentage.
Tusculum rallied from a 5-0 deficit to start the second set, forcing the lone lead change at 14-13 in the midst of a 6-1 run. Both the Pioneers (.261) and the Tornado (.182) had match-best hitting clips. TU grew the advantage to three which caused King to spend its second timeout. The Pioneers kept growing the lead, while Mathis clinched the set with a solo block.
TU did not allow a single King block or ace to close out the final frame, while the Pioneers landed four aces and added two rejections. The lead changed four times, including a large swing by King. The Tornado were down 6-4 but won four-straight scores, aided by three Tusculum errors. Down 14-11, the home team went on a 7-2 tear and continued to expand the advantage, capped off by consecutive Makovec aces. Mathis had back-to-back kills to earn TU the match-point, which was eventually recorded on a King service error.
Tusculum wraps up the home portion of its season on Tuesday (Apr. 7) against Newberry. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m.
