ADRIAN, MICH. -- The Trine University men's volleyball team dropped a 3-0 decision against Adrian (Mich.) College in the Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League opener in Adrian, Mich.
Two players finished in double figures in kills led by freshman Parker Beale (Noblesville, Ind./Fishers) who had 15 kills to along with a .333 attack percentage. Sophomore Kyle Dixon (Lockport, Ill./Lockport Twp.) was the other player with 10 kills and a .318 attack percentage.
Senior Hunter Monday (Beech Grove, Ind./Lutheran) helped set up the offense with 31 set assists.
Sophomore Eric Santiago-Garcia (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Glen Ridge) had a team-high eight digs and was followed by Monday with five digs. Freshman Dominic Saenz (Wall Twp., N.J./Wall) rounded out the top three players with four digs.
Freshman Chris Dargan (Manhattan, Ill./Lincoln Way West) led the team in blocks with a pair of assists.
Adrian (6-9, 1-0 MCVL) led by three points early and later had a five-point advantage, 11-6, but Trine (3-8, 0-1 MCVL) rallied and got back to within two points later in the first set following a kill by Saenz that made the score, 14-12. The Bulldogs regained a five-point margin, 20-15, when the Thunder would again narrow the gap to a couple of points multiple times down the stretch, including a 22-20 margin after a kill by Beale. Adrian then tallied back-to-back points to extend the difference to four points which proved to be what the Bulldogs needed to come away with a 25-21 victory in the first set.
Dargan got the scoring going for Trine in the second set with a kill that gave Trine the early lead. Adrian then tallied consecutive points to take a 2-1 lead and never trailed again despite Trine tying the game several times before the Bulldogs went on a 4-1 scoring run that put the home team up by four points, 15-11, to gain some breathing room. Trine made it a one-point game, 18-17, thanks to a kill by Beale until another scoring run by Adrian resulted in a five-point difference which also included the final score of 25-20.
The third set started off with a pair of points by Adrian en route to maintaining a 5-1 advantage early on. The Bulldogs gradually began to pull away in the set and went on to lead by as many as nine points twice which included the final score of 25-16 to complete the three-game sweep, 3-0.
Trine will host its next two matches starting with a matchup against Fontbonne (Mo.) University to continue MCVL play on Friday, Feb. 21 at Hershey Hall. The match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
