ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University men's volleyball team swept Baldwin Wallace University on Saturday afternoon in Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League (MCVL) play.
The Thunder (12-12, 4-3 MCVL) strengthen their opportunity at postseason berth with the victory and the Yellow Jackets (8-18, 3-5 MCVL) are eliminated from playoff contention.
The first set was even on 13 different occasions in the 25-22 win for the home team. Matt Stillman [Mokena, Ill. / Lincoln Way Central] and Sam Buckingham [Saginaw, Mich. / Nouvel Catholic Central] had three kills each to pace the offense.
Momentum was swung in Trine's direction following back-to-back scores from block assists by Buckingham, with Ethan Howard [South Whitley, Ind. / Witko] and Ted Hofmeister [Powell, Ohio / Saint Charles] by his side on each to go up 19-17. A solo block by Stillman at 22-20 forced a Baldwin Wallace timeout, but it was not enough to pull the Yellow Jackets back into it.
The second set saw the Thunder take an early edge, but extended the gap just passed the midway point with a 7-1 run to take a commanding 22-14 lead. Howard found Hofmeister for points 24 and 25 in the 25-18 set victory. He sophomore Hofmeister led the way with five kills in the set and in total, the team had 13 kills and just one assist on swings.
Stillman had one of his three solo blocks early in the third as Trine opened with a 6-1 lead. The sophomore would record another one a few points later to keep the Yellow Jackets at arm's length. Baldwin Wallace took their second timeout trailing 15-9 in hopes of keeping the game going, however the Thunder pressed on to a 25-22 match-clinching set three win.
Hofmeister was the lone Trine student-athlete with double-digit kills at 11. Buckingham was a heavy contributor as well with seven. Hunter Haas [Cincinnati, Ohio / Bishop Moeller] led the way with nine digs, but Howard with eight and Kevin Boncaro [Rochester, N.Y. / Rush Henrietta] with six also made their presence felt on the defensive end.
Sunday, April 3 marks the final regular season match for Trine men's volleyball as well as Senior Day. First serve at Hershey Hall is set for 1 pm versus the University of Mount Union.
