NAPERVILLE, Ill. – On Wednesday night, the Trine University men's volleyball team traveled to North Central College to take on the nationally-ranked Cardinals. North Central, who is ranked #10 in the most recent Top 15 poll by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA), defeated the Thunder in consecutive sets.
The loss drops Trine to 3-9 on the season and puts a halt to the team's two match win streak. The Cardinals return from a trip to California with a win to move to 9-3 overall.
In the first set, the Thunder made an early push and overcame a slight deficit at 5-4 when Johnson-Kuhao Ho'okano-Pelekai served an ace, but the first Trine timeout was called down 12-6. The Cardinals extended the lead to as many as eight at 17-9 and North Central would keep the margin around that mark in the 25-18 set win. Ted Hofmeister and Kevin Boncaro tallied three kills apiece in the first.
Boncaro was the undisputed spark on offense for the Thunder in the second despite a 25-15 loss. The sophomore had seven kills out of the 15 points scored in the set as the team once more failed to keep pace with their opposition. An ace from Boncaro and a kill by Carter Steffgen rounded out the visitors in the second.
The third set was the closest of the night at 25-19. A kill by Hofmeister gave Trine an early lead, but it would not hold as the home team got ahead 8-3 at the first called timeout. Using North Central errors, the Thunder battled all the way back to within four at 19-15, but were unable to get any closer.
Boncaro's 10 kills paced the offense while Sam Bhandal and Hunter Haas tied for the team lead with seven digs each. Bhandal had 12 assists on the night and Steffgen added five.
Up next, Trine is at home on Thursday, February 23 for the second night of a back-to-back. Lawrence Tech University visits Hershey Hall beginning at 7 p.m.