ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University men's volleyball team suffered their first NCAA DIII setback of the 2024 season on Sunday afternoon after coming up short against Lakeland University 3-2. Overall, the Thunder are now 3-2 while the Muskies are 2-4.
Trine had a new program high in attack attempts with 194 in the match thanks to 71 digs, tied for the fifth-most in a single match. Four different student-athletes had double-digit digs, paced by Bryan Maida with 16. The trio of Nick Woolley, Ted Hofmeister and Kevin Boncaro all tallied 14.
The new career leader in kills Hofmeister led the team with 22 kills to become the program's all-time leading point artist as well with 760.5 in his career. Boncaro chipped in with 16 kills. Woolley's 53 assists are tied for the second-most in a match in program history and the team had 59 in total, the third-most since 2019.
Set one was all Trine right from the start as Woolley went on a run serving to go up 9-1 with two aces. A kill by Johnson-Kuhao Ho'okano-Pelekai would give them their largest lead of the set at 15-5 and after a slight comeback by Lakeland, the Thunder scored the final three points to win the set 25-15 and go up 1-0.
The Muskies would throw the first punch in the second set as they forced a timeout up 9-4. A persistent attacking effort by Karl Both, Hofmeister and Boncaro would draw the home squad back to even at 14 apiece, but back-to-back aces by Lakeland made the score 20-17 and was the gap they needed to tie the set at one with a 25-21 victory.
The third would be the best hitting set of the day for Trine at .294 (14 kills, four errors) as the Thunder went up 2-1 via a 25-19 victory. A solo block by Landon Barrow helped give the team a 13-7 lead, but it was a key 6-0 run that got Trine up 22-14 that helped solidify the third in favor of the Thunder. Hofmeister would slam home a kill to close the third.
Set four would require extra points, but it was Lakeland who snuck away with the victory 28-26 to force a fifth and deciding set. The Muskies claimed a 16-9 lead before Trine would make their run. A block by Boncaro and Liam Northrup would tie it up at 19-19 and later, the Thunder were one point from a match victory at 24-23. Unfortunately, Lakeland would answer with their backs against the wall.
With momentum on their side, the Muskies would go on a run to make it 8-4 before trading sides. Another combo block by Boncaro and Northrup forced a Lakeland timeout, and it was effective in regrouping the road team to nab a 15-9 win the fifth.
The Thunder will be on the road on Tuesday, January 30 with a match at Bethel University in Indiana beginning at 7 p.m.