ALLIANCE, Ohio – In their regular season finale, the Trine University men's volleyball team lost at the University of Mount Union by a score of 3-1. The loss makes Trine 14-12 overall and 5-3 in Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League (MCVL) play in 2023. The Purple Raiders of Mount Union will enter postseason play with a mark of 20-5 and 7-1.
Despite the loss, the Thunder have qualified for the MCVL Tournament and will be the number four seed. A three-way tie for first-place in the league between Mount Union, Baldwin Wallace University and Wittenberg University was won by the Purple Raiders, so Trine will get another opportunity to compete against Mount Union in Alliance next weekend in the Tournament Semifinal round.
In Friday's opening set, the Purple Raiders were able to pull away for a 25-17 victory. A string of four straight points for the home team forced the Thunder into a timeout down 10-7, but the pause in action would not break the run the opposing offense was on. 14 kills compared to 11 for Trine led to defeat in the first set.
The only set win of the day came in the second. Kevin Boncaro and Ted Hofmeister paced the offense for the Thunder and kept things close early on. Mid-set, a pair of Boncaro solo blocks highlighted a five-point scoring spree for Trine to claim a 14-10 lead. The Purple Raiders saved both timeouts until the end of the set, but to no avail as Boncaro continued to dominate in the 25-20 win. The team had 15 kills and a .312 hitting percentage, both match-highs.
Sam Buckingham got in on the action offensively as the team took an 8-4 lead in set number three. Sensing they were in some trouble, Mount Union was able to respond with 18 kills in the third set alone, resulting in a 25-18 victory for the Purple Raiders.
Hofmeister, Hunter Haas and Sam Bhandal found Boncaro for four kills in a 5-0 run to begin set number four, but Mount Union would close the gap thanks to a six-point run of their own. Eight out of ten points coming out of a Trine timeout also belonged to the Purple Raiders as they wore down the Thunder, 18-11. The two traded points from there, but the deficit was too much for Trine to overcome as they ultimately fell 25-19 in the match-clinching set.
Boncaro reached the 500-career kill plateau with a team-high 20 on the afternoon. He joins his teammate Hofmeister as one of three student-athletes in program history to reach the milestone. Bhandal had a double-double with 34 assists and 11 digs, but it was Hofmeister who had the most on the team with 12 digs. Haas added 11 digs as the team's libero.
The season continues for the Thunder in the MCVL Tournament beginning on Friday, April 14. Stay tuned to www.trinethunder.com for more information regarding that event.