BELMONT, N.C. -- Andrew Kohut and Matteo Miselli tallied eight kills each and Belmont Abbey hit .351 as a team, lifting the Crusaders to a 3-0 (25-23, 25-12, 25-16) victory over Tusculum in men's volleyball action Wednesday night.

With the win, The Abbey improves to 8-5 overall, while the Pioneers fall to 1-9.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Misell added three aces and five digs, both team highs.
• Brennan Davis recorded 26 assists and a pair of aces. He also had a pair of block assists.
• Brian Long hit .571 contest with five kills and one error in seven chances. Brandon Pryzwara and Riley Mulkey had identical attack lines of four kills and one error in six tries (.500).
• Long added two aces, two digs and two block assists.
• The first set was the closest as it featured five ties and two lead changes. Tusculum led 20-19 when the Crusaders rattled off three straight points. The Pioneers added back-to-back kills to even the set at 22-22, then answered an Abbey point tie it again at 23-23. A kill by Kohut and then his ace ended the first set.
• The Crusaders led wire-to-wire in the second and never trailed in the third after breaking a 4-4 deadlock with consecutive points.

UP NEXT

• Belmont Abbey begins a five-match road swing this weekend with a return to conference play.
• The Crusaders face Erskine on Friday and Emmanuel on Saturday in the back ends of home-and-home series.
• The Crusaders defeated both team at home earlier in the season.