CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. – The Trine University men's volleyball team recorded their first Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League (MCVL) win of the 2022 season with a three-set victory at Wabash College on Sunday afternoon.
The Thunder (9-11, 1-2 MCVL) used a team hitting percentage of .437 and 49 kills to top the Little Giants (3-14, 0-4 MCVL). Junior setter Ethan Howard [South Whitley, Ind. / Witko] and sophomore outside hitter Ted Hofmeister [Powell, Ohio / Saint Charles] each had school records in the match. Howard tallied 44 assists, a new mark for a single match, and Hofmeister hit .727 (17 kills, 22 attempts), the best hitting percentage in any match in program history.
Trine took a 4-1 lead to start the match, sparked by a kill by Kyle Dixon [Lockport, Ill. / Lockport Township] and continued to extend the advantage in the first. Hofmeister had three consecutive kills mid-set to go up 13-9 and the teams went back-and-forth from there until Wabash called for time trailing 18-13. Landon Barrow [Noblesville, Ind. / Noblesville] was a popular target late in the set in a 25-18 win with two kills in the last five Thunder points.
A six-point swing for Trine early in the second gave the Thunder a 10-4 edge. It all started with a kill by Matt Stillman [Mokena, Ill. / Lincoln Way Central] and Hofmeister added three more during the scoring spurt. The final seven points of the 25-14 set win would also belong to Trine, with Howard finding his favorite target Hofmeister four times.
Carter Steffgen [Lockport, Ill. / Lockport Township] and Sam Buckingham [Saginaw, Mich. / Nouvel Catholic Central] got starts in set number three and each sent a ball to the ground to start the frame. Daniel Boren [Fort Wayne, Ind. / Homestead] had back-to-back kills to force the Little Giants into a timeout at 6-2. A six-point run with five Wabash errors allowed Trine to widen the gap to 17-8 and they continued to pour it on late en route to a match-clinching 25-13 set three victory.
Hofmeister and his 17 kills was the only Thunder student-athlete in double figures. Defensively, Hunter Haas [Cincinnati, Ohio / Bishop Moeller] had a team-high eight digs.
Trine plays host to conference foe Mount St. Joseph University on Friday, March 25 at 7 pm.