BEREA, Ohio – The Trine University men's volleyball team came up short on Thursday night at Baldwin Wallace University 3-0 in Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League (MCVL) action.
The Thunder are now 14-11 overall and 5-2 in the league, but can still gain one spot in the league standings with a win at the University of Mount Union on Friday. Baldwin Wallace finishes the regular season schedule at 24-7 and 7-1 and have clinched a share of the MCVL regular season trophy.
Trine took an early lead in set one thanks to an offensive attack by Ted Hofmeister, Kevin Boncaro and Johnson-Kuhao Ho'okano-Pelekai. A Matt Stillman kill put the team up 20-18, but a three-point swing in favor of the home squad forced head coach William Dowdy into a timeout. Three of the next four points went to the Thunder to make the score 23-22, but a timeout by Baldwin Wallace allowed them to score the final three points of a 25-23 first set.
A battle at the net in the second set put the Yellow Jackets in front 11-8. After getting the set back to even at 12-12, a pair of scoring runs by Baldwin Wallace made it 21-16. To try to halt the momentum, the Thunder used both timeouts, but it was ineffective as the Yellow Jackets went up 2-0. Trine had their lowest hitting percentage in the match in a 25-18 set loss, but the team would recover offensively in the third.
Sam Buckingham was a force in set number three and his presence at the net helped put the Thunder in front 13-10 at the set's first timeout. Buckingham and Hofmeister combined for a block to increase the lead to 19-15 as it looked like Trine would be able to take a set. A run of nine points out of 12 for Baldwin Wallace put the team back in front and set up match point. A valiant fight was put up by the Thunder, but the Yellow Jackets used extra points to come away with a 27-25 match-clinching victory.
On the defensive side of the ball, Hunter Haas and Ho'okano-Pelekai tied for the team lead with 11 digs. Hofmeister was also in double figures with 10. The team had nine blocks in total, with Stillman being involved in five of them (one solo). On offense, Boncaro totaled 14 kills with a .225 hitting percentage. Sam Bhandal distributed 28 assists.
The regular season concludes on Friday, April 7 at Mount Union beginning at 2 p.m.