Box Score CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Queens' lengthy road trip continued Thursday evening with a matchup against Tusculum. The Royals came out the gate firing and managed to take all three sets as they earned their second victory in a row, 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-22).

With the win, Queens improves to 3-7 while Tusculum falls to 3-8. 

MATCH SUMMARY
An early Tusculum error knotted the first set at four sending Brian Schwob behind the line to serve. He'd rattle off four consecutive points and capped it off with an ace, proceeding kills by Jack Brinkman and Daniel Leitao. Matthew Pilch continued to find success early on, as his sixth kill of the set put Queens ahead 20-17 and prompted a timeout by Tusculum. He'd continue his hot streak with kills on two of the next three points, propelling them to a first-set victory. 

Both teams were neck and neck in the second set, as a kill by Leitao knotted the set at 11. Later tied at 13, another kill by Pilch sparked a four-point run which he would cap off with a kill and give the Royals a 16-13 lead and forced the Pioneers to call a timeout yet again. Brinkman managed a trio of kills late to hold off any comeback attempt and give his squad a 2-0 set lead. 

The third set was the closest of the match as the point differential never grew larger than 3. Leitao and Pilch combined for five kills early on as Queens reached the 10-point mark first thanks to a double-block by Nathan Vaupel and Jack Brinkman. Tusculum pushed four consecutive points to go ahead 15-12, but it was short-lived as Queens responded nicely by taking three of the next four and cut the deficit to one. Michael Sacha subbed in later in the set to step behind the service line and pushed three points in a row to give Queens a late 21-19 lead. Brinkman's turn to serve came with the team up 23-22 and he'd take control of the match by serving up two consecutive aces to take the set and ultimately the match. 

COACH'S WORDS
"It was one of our best offensive performances of the season" said head coach Jeremy Price. "Matt Pilch continued his hot play with an outstanding night. Both of our outsides played extremely well. Jack Brinkman was very efficient as well with 11 kills and hitting over 500. He had back-to-back aces to end the match as well. I thought we did a nice job on the service line only missing six serves after missing 25 in our previous match. It was a really good night to get our first IVA win and we realize that we have a quick turnaround to get ready for LMU tomorrow".

BY THE NUMBERS

• Matthew Pilch has been a key part in Queens' success, as he put away 17 kills to just one error for a .593 hitting percentage in the match.
• Also making huge contributions were Jack Brinkman and Daniel Leitao who each added 11 kills of their own.
• Brian Schwob did a nice job distributing the ball as he managed 13.0 assists per set with 39 total.
• On the defensive side, libero Guillermo Jordan led the back line with team-high nine digs.

NEXT UP
The Royals are right back on the road tomorrow night, as they will take on last year's conference champion, Lincoln memorial, at 5PM. 

Be sure to follow the Royals men's volleyball program on Instagram and Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest news and updates surrounding the team. Fans are also encouraged to follow Queens Athletics on social media @QueensAthletics to follow all of the Royals sports in action.