FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Trine University men's volleyball team competed in day two of the Crossroads Crossover event on Friday afternoon, but dropped both matches on the day.
The Thunder (0-3) fell to Goshen (2-0) 3-1 in a neutral site match and lost 3-0 to Indiana Tech (4-0) in the nightcap.
TRINE vs GOSHEN:
The Thunder fell behind 4-0 early in the first set, but were able to recover and eventually took their first lead at 14-13 thanks to a string of points started from Kyle Dixon [Lockport, Ill. / Lockport Township] and Kevin Boncaro [Rochester, N.Y. / Rush Henrietta] kills. The Maple Leafs reclaimed the lead, but scores on five out of six rallies put the Thunder at set point, 24-23.
It required extra points, but Goshen was able to score two in a row to take a 30-28 set one win. Eric Santiago-Garcia [Dorado, Puerto Rico / Glen Ridge] and Matt Stillman [Mokena, Ill. / Lincoln Way Central] each recorded a kill while the Maple Leafs were at set point to keep Trine alive in crunch time.
The second set saw the Thunder take an advantage from the start and took their largest lead of the match at 12-5 thanks to eight Goshen errors. The Maple Leafs fought back to tie the match at 23, but Nate Unsicker [Woodridge, Ill. / Downers Grove South] served up a set point kill for Stillman from Ryan McDonald [New Lenox, Ill. / Lincoln Way West] to win 25-23.
Goshen jumped ahead 15-9 in set number three, but Carter Steffgen [Lockport, Ill. / Lockport Township] led a charge of five consecutive Trine points with three service aces. Unfortunately, the Thunder were never able to tie or take the lead in the third as the Maple Leafs went on to win 25-20.
The fourth set would be more of the same, with Goshen getting ahead 12-4 and riding the momentum to a deciding 25-17 victory. The Maple Leafs had 13 kills to just one error in the set.
11 different Trine athletes had a kill in the match, led by Boncaro with 10. Steffgen totaled 11 points with six kills and a team-high five aces. Steffgen tied the school record for most aces in a match.
INDIANA TECH vs TRINE:
In the first 12 points, each team traded scores to make it 6-6 before the Warriors began to pull away. Boncaro, Stillman and Ted Hofmeister [Powell, Ohio / Saint Charles] each recorded kills in the early goings of the match. A 10-2 run in favor of Indiana Tech allowed the home squad to cruise to a 25-18 set one victory.
The second set was a back-and-forth affair to start, with Nick Woolley [Plainfield, Ill. / Plainfield North] getting in on the action with two kills in the first five points. A Boncaro kill gave the Thunder a 19-14 advantage, but unfortunately seven of the next nine points went to the Warriors to tie the set up at 21.
Trine used a pair of service errors and a kill from Landon Barrow [Noblesville, Ind. / Noblesville] to force extra points, but Indiana Tech was able to escape with the set two win 28-26.
The Thunder used six kills and got an ace from Hofmeister in the first nine points to give Trine a slight edge at 9-8, but the Warriors scored eight of nine to make it 17-11. Hofmeister, Woolley, Dixon and Steffgen all had kills to try to spark a comeback, but four straight Indiana Tech points sent the Thunder to a 25-16 defeat.
A balanced scoring attack saw Stillman (7), Hofmeister (6), Boncaro (6) and Woolley (5) lead the team offensively in the three-set loss. McDonald has 27 assists in the match.
Trine continues their road trip on Wednesday, January 19 at Lawrence Tech. First serve is set for 7 pm.