MUNCIE, Ind. – The Trine University men's volleyball team opened the 2024 season with a strong test against one of the top collegiate men's volleyball teams in the country in NCAA DI Ball State University.
The Thunder were defeated by the 14th-ranked team by the American Volleyball Coaches Association/National Volleyball Association (AVCA/NVA) National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Poll by a score of 3-0 but held their own in each set. Trine begins the season 0-1 while the Cardinals of Ball State are now 7-2 overall.
A service ace by senior Nick Woolley kept the Thunder in the first set at 12-10, but a 4-0 scoring run from there by the Cardinals allowed the home team to reclaim the momentum. Ball State would slowly but surely pull away and take the first set by a score of 25-16.
The second saw a poor hitting percentage from Trine, but they were able to keep the set close the entire way. The team fell behind early at 6-1, but kills by junior Kevin Boncaro and sophomore Johnson-Kuhao Ho'okano-Pelekai and aces by senior Ted Hofmeister and sophomore Liam Northrup cut the deficit to one at 10-9. Hofmeister would add three more kills in the closing stages of the set, but the team ultimately came up short, 25-20.
An ace by Ho'okano-Pelekai gave Trine an early lead in the third set, but Ball State would flex their muscles to go up 16-9. Freshman Karl Both stepped back to serve after a Cardinal error and rattled off six in a row to draw to within one at 16-15 and force their NCAA DI opponent into a timeout. The break would be effective for the Cardinals as they secured the match with a 25-19 set win.
In each of the three sets, the Thunder would force Ball State to a lower hitting percentage. In total, the Cardinals hit .385 in the match while Trine was .077. Hofmeister and Ho'okano-Pelekai tied for the team lead with seven kills each. The setter Woolley accumulated 18 assists and Hofmeister would go solo in most digs with five. Northrup was a part of all three blocks in the match with three block assists.
On Saturday, January 20, Trine competes against their first NCAA DIII teams this season with a tri-match at Mount St. Joseph University. The Thunder will face Wisconsin Lutheran College at 3 p.m. before squaring off with the host Lions at 5 p.m.