ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Trine University men's volleyball team completed a perfect 3-0 weekend in the Fontbonne Invitational on Sunday with wins against Loras College and Concordia University Chicago. Trine has won five in a row after dropping their first seven this season while shorthanded.
The Thunder (5-7) knocked off the previously unbeaten Duhawks (9-1) of Loras in a five-set thriller and followed that up with a three-set sweep of the Cougars (1-9), who Trine defeated in five sets at home earlier this season.
TRINE vs LORAS:
Loras took the early advantage in set one with a 25-20 victory, sparked by a 10-4 scoring run to begin the match. Kyle Dixon [Lockport, Ill. / Lockport Township] and Kevin Boncaro [Rochester, N.Y. / Rush Henrietta] had three kills apiece in the first, but it was too much to overcome the Duhawks offense.
Set number two was much more closely contested. Ted Hofmeister [Powell, Ohio / Saint Charles] was the focal point early on, but still Trine was forced to take a timeout trailing 13-8. Ethan Howard [South Whitley, Ind. / Witko] and Eric Santiago-Garcia [Dorado, Puerto Rico / Glen Ridge] served during an 8-1 scoring run that gave the Thunder a 20-18 set two lead. With the score tied at 24, Trine scored the final two points to claim the set 26-24 via a Carter Steffgen [Lockport, Ill. / Lockport Township] kill and Matt Stillman [Mokena, Ill. / Lincoln Way Central] solo block.
A 6-0 run by Loras in the third was enough to propel the Duhawks to another 25-20 victory, but Trine hung in there despite a slow start. An 8-2 run highlighted by consecutive kills from Dixon cut the deficit down to just three at 19-16, but Loras was able to withstand the pressure and countered every score the Thunder achieved down the stretch.
In set four, Trine would be the ones to take a slight edge in the early goings. The Duhawks called for time down 12-10 with kills by Hofmeister, Stillman, Santiago-Garcia and Landon Barrow [Noblesville, Ind. / Noblesville]. The Thunder went up 18-14 as Sam Bhandal [Marysville, Wash. / Marysville] got on the board with an ace, but Loras stormed back to within one. A diverse crowd of four different Trine athletes had kills down the stretch as the Thunder held on for the 25-22 victory to force a decisive set five.
It did not look good for Trine early after falling behind 8-5 in a race to 15, but three points out of four by Hofmeister times two and Barrow forced a Duhawk timeout. Coming out of the break, Stillman and Santiago-Garcia had two kills each in the midst of a 7-1 avalanche by the Thunder. Boncaro ended the match at 15-12 with consecutive service aces.
Fighting off the offensive attacks were key for Trine and Hunter Haas [Cincinnati, Ohio / Bishop Moeller] had 23 digs himself, one off of his own school record. Hofmeister led the offense with 16 kills and Stillman chipped in with nine plus was a part of three of the team's six blocks.
TRINE vs CUC:
Concordia Chicago threw the first punch in the match by going up 7-5 and making head coach Will Dowdy call for time. Stillman notched a pair of service aces following the break to secure Trine scores on four of the next five. Dixon tied the set back up at 13 with a kill and that ignited an 11-2 run that gave the Thunder full control of the first. Boncaro and Barrow combined for a block to take the set 25-17.
Trine made an early statement in the second with kills on six of their first eight points to go up 8-5. From there, the Thunder remained in control of the set and staved off a 5-1 Cougar scoring run to win the set 25-22. Steffgen tallied five kills and two aces to put Trine in the driver's seat up 2-0.
Nick Woolley [Plainfield, Ill. / Plainfield North] was a big contributor in a 7-1 scoring run to lead 9-5 in the third. The lead grew to as many as seven at 16-9 before Concordia Chicago called for time to regroup. The Cougars outscored the Thunder 11-5 to pull within one at 21-20, but the final four points were attributed to Trine, with Dominic Saenz [Wall Twp., N.J. / Wall] recording a pair of kills late in the match.
A balanced scoring attack was led by Steffgen and Boncaro with seven kills apiece. Haas and Woolley were in double figures with 11 and 10 digs, respectively, a career-high for Woolley. Howard had 33 of 39 assists in the match.
Men's volleyball wraps up their three-match season series with Indiana Tech University on Tuesday, February 15 on the road. That match is scheduled for 7 pm.