Deklan Wingo of Tusculum University men’s volleyball was named the 2024 Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (IVA) Offensive Player of the Year, announced in the yearly awards on Tuesday. Additionally, he was named to the all-tournament team.
Wingo, a native of Chester, Virginia, won the league’s offensive player of the week honors an incredible four times throughout the season. The junior outside hitter averaged 3.47 kills per set on a .231 hitting percentage. Wingo has accumulated 371 kills, 20 assists, 16 service aces, 150 digs, and 33 total blocks (15 solo, 18 assists). He notched a career-high 24 kills in the five-set loss to Thomas More on the Pioneers’ Senior Night, tallying at least 20 kills in four matches.
To earn the All-Tournament honor at the IVAs, Wingo totaled 29 kills, 15 digs, and three aces in the two weekend matches.
For his career, Wingo is second in kills (723), kills per set (2.70), attack attempts (1,680), hitting percentage (.221), points (855.5), points per set (3.19), and each blocking total: solo (34), assists (89), and total (123). He also ranks third in aces (54) and service attempts (877) and fourth in digs (277), sets played (268), and matches played (76).
The Pioneers (8-23) rounded out the season with a third-place finish at the IVA Tournament on April 13.
TRACK & FIELD Sosnowski Gets Honor
ROCK HILL, S.C. — Tusculum University freshman thrower Caley Sosnowski has earned the South Atlantic Conference Women’s Field Athlete of the Week award, for the week ending April 14.
Sosnowski received the award for the second time in three weeks after winning the javelin for the fourth time this season at the Sharonda Coleman-Singleton Classic at South Carolina State University on Saturday.
The Oxford, Florida, native had a best throw of 48.55 meters (159 feet, 3 inches) which is the top mark in Division II this season. Two other throws by Sosnowski at the meet would have ranked her inside the top five nationally. She broke her own school record of 45.89 meters set at the Blue Bear Invite on March 30.
Tusculum will compete in the Catamount Classic on Friday and Saturday at Western Carolina University.
MEN’S TENNIS LMU 4 Tusculum 2SUMTER, S.C. — Lincoln Memorial University defeated Tusculum in the quarterfinal round of the South Atlantic Conference Men’s Tennis Championship on Thursday at the Palmetto Tennis Center.
The 41st-ranked Railsplitters (17-8), seeded fifth in the tournament, trailed 1-0 after doubles but won four of the five completed singles matches against the 34th-ranked Pioneers (16-7), who were seeded fourth in the eight-team field.
In doubles, Tusculum went out to a 1-0 lead as Will Gee and Anton Krondell beat Alexandru Giurea and Sergio Boneta 6-3 at flight one, with Nemanja Subanovic and Miles Ray collecting a 6-2 win at flight two over Harper Mills and Thom Hermans.
The Railsplitters picked up three straight-set wins in singles to go up 3-1, but Subanovic kept the Pioneers alive in the match as he rallied from a set down to beat Giurea 1-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-1 at flight one. However, Lincoln Memorial got a three-set victory at flight three to end the match.
Lincoln Memorial will face top-seeded Wingate in the semifinals on Friday after the Bulldogs swept Coker by a 4-0 score in their quarterfinal match on Thursday.
BASEBALL Young Harris 7 Tusculum 3
Dylan Beck pitched four strong innings to secure his ninth save of the season to lead 11th-ranked Young Harris to a win at Tusculum on Wednesday.
The Mountain Lions (33-9) record their eighth consecutive win and complete a season sweep of the Pioneers (23-20).
Young Harris was held to just six hits, but four of them went for doubles as the Mountain Lions found a way to get aboard thanks to six walks, five hit batsmen and three Tusculum errors.
Beck overcame a shaky start in the sixth inning, giving up one unearned run. But then proceeded to retire the final 11 batters of the game while posting four strikeouts to close out the contest.
YHC put up two runs in the second inning as eight batters went to the plate but no hits were recorded. Young Harris took advantage of three walks and two hit batters to take a 2-0 lead.
Tusculum got a run in the bottom of the third as Luis Reyes singled, stole second and scored all the way from second on Omar Carreras’ two-out, infield single.
The Mountain Lions answered with two runs in the fourth inning as Drew Bray, Jeremy Bogora and Ethan Stamps each recorded a double as YHC led 4-1.
Tusculum scratched off a run in the fifth as Reyes led off with a walk, stole his second base of the game and scored on Carreras’ RBI single. The Pioneers would get runners on the corners, but reliever Kaleb Perry posted a strikeout to end the threat and preserve the 4-2 advantage.
Beck took over on the mound in the sixth to start the inning. TU catcher Avery Collins lined a single to right field and advanced to second when Kayl Ratliff reached on an error. Reyes notched his second hit of the game with his base hit to center to load the bases. Collins would score an unearned run on Max Schmarder’s fielder’s choice. But Beck would get a fly out to end the inning.
The Mountain Lions added three insurance runs in the seventh including a RBI single by Jace Wilson and sacrifice flies by Jarret Ford and Steve Spell as Young Harris led 7-3.
Perry picked up the victory to improve to 1-0 on the season while TU reliever Trejen Fox-Birdwell suffered the loss.
Reyes went 2-for-3 in the game and posted three stolen bases, while Carreras also had a two-hit outing and recorded two RBI.
Tusculum starting pitcher Drew Sliwinski pitched a scoreless first inning as he worked around a hit and a walk while posting a strikeout.
Jonathan Nelson shut out the Mountain Lions over his 2 2/3 innings on the mound while notching a pair of strikeouts. Luke Maicon pitched 2 1/3 shutout innings while Caid Sanders didn’t allow a run in his 1/3 innings on bump.
The Pioneers will play at Shorter University at 2 p.m. Friday.
WOMEN’S LACROSSE UVA Wise 13 Tusculum 7
WISE, Va. — The University of Virginia at Wise defeated Tusculum in South Atlantic Conference play on Wednesday.
Noley Hiller led the Cavaliers (9-7, 6-4 SAC) with four goals and Caitlyn Schultz had two goals and three assists as UVA Wise outshot Tusculum by a 40-19 margin. The Pioneers were charged with 33 turnovers, 25 of which were caused by the Cavaliers’ defense.
Kylie Marek, Cassidy Bourne and Lucy Brewer each scored two goals and Zuza Stasiak added one for the Pioneers (5-11, 3-7 SAC). Brewer had seven draw controls to set a program single-season record with 81, while becoming the third player in program history to reach 200 career draw controls, at 203.
Emily White finished with 19 saves in goal for the Pioneers, three short of her career high and tied for the second-most in a game in program history.
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