ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University men's volleyball team took out their frustrations of a cancelled match earlier this week by sweeping Maranatha Baptist University and the Illinois Institute of Technology on Saturday afternoon inside Hershey Hall.
The Thunder (5-9) took the opening match of the day against the Sabrecats of Maranatha Baptist (0-21) in straight sets. After Maranatha Baptist faced Illinois Tech in a neutral site contest, Trine was able to defeat the Scarlet Hawks (4-10) as well.
TRINE vs MARANATHA BAPTIST RECAP:
The Thunder went wire-to-wire in an efficient 25-12 first set win. An ace by Kevin Boncaro put the home team ahead 6-1 and the team continued to put their foot on the gas later in the set. A 13-2 scoring run in favor of Trine extended the advantage to 22-8 and a kill by Ted Hofmeister put the finishing touches on the set. The Thunder hit .448 in the first with 15 kills and two errors.
In the second set, Trine continued to dominate the non-conference match with a second straight 25-12 victory. Carter Steffgen had a pair of service aces to highlight the opening points and the Thunder rattled off nine in a row to take a commanding 17-3 lead. That run included a string of four consecutive aces from Boncaro. Landon Barrow, Nathan Rebhorn and Isaac Yape inserted their names into the stat sheet in the period.
Maranatha Baptist hung tough in the third set, but ultimately Trine was able to wear them down to complete the sweep. Three kills by Steffgen in a row put Trine back in front 10-7 and that was enough to seize momentum and fuel the 25-17 set win. Christian Jones, Liam Northrup and Ethan McLenon displayed poise late to put away the match.
Boncaro tied his own school record with six aces in the win. Johnson-Kuhao Ho'okano-Pelekai was consistent in all three sets and led the team with 10 kills. Sam Bhandal was the team leader with 33 assists and in the back row, Bryan Maida and Hunter Haas tied for the most digs with six each. A team hitting percentage of .427 is the best in a match this season and the fifth-best in program history.
TRINE vs ILLINOIS TECH RECAP:
An efficient first set with 14 kills and two errors (.364 hitting percentage) for the Thunder allowed the home team to cruise to a 25-17 lead in the first. Boncaro had a pair of kills in a 7-1 run to get ahead. Sam Buckingham, who did not play in the first match, was a force inside to help preserve the advantage with three kills on three swings. Boncaro and Haas had six digs each from the back row.
The second set would look nothing like the first. Illinois Tech took a 10-4 lead and forced head coach Will Dowdy to use a timeout early in the set. Six errors for Trine doomed the team to a 25-17 loss to even the match at one set apiece.
The score was tied 12 times in the third set alone after only having one lead change through the first two sets as the Thunder pulled away to a 25-21 win. Buckingham had five kills in the third, most of which came in critical junctures. A 7-1 scoring run by Trine to claim a 23-18 lead in the set was the difference.
Up 2-1, Trine showed heart to keep the match from going to a winner-take-all fifth set. The largest lead of the set for either side was three points and Bhandal found Buckingham for a kill to make it 9-6 Thunder. The teams traded punches late in the going, but down 23-22, Trine was able to score on three straight side outs to put away the match with a 25-23 victory. The Thunder had 20 kills in total with just two errors in the fourth.
Trine hit .305 in the match with 54 kills. Hofmeister was the team leader with 18 and Buckingham was also in double figures with 13. Bhandal distributed 47 total assists in the match. Haas led the way in digs with 17, the second-most in a match this season for the junior. Bhandal and Boncaro had 12 apiece.
Tuesday, February 28 marks the next match for the Thunder – a home game versus Indiana Tech. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.
