CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Prior to the start of the Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League (MCVL) Tournament, the conference has unveiled the award winners for the 2023 season. Three student-athletes from the Trine University men's volleyball team received accolades from the MCVL for their efforts in the regular season.
For the third time in his career, junior libero Hunter Haas has been tabbed the MCVL's Defensive Player of the Year and a First Team All-League member. The Cincinnati, Ohio native was honored as the MCVL Defensive Player of the Week three times in 2023 and displayed expert play from the back row for the entire season.
Haas had 272 total digs and averaged 3.44 digs per set, the most in the MCVL in his 25 matches. At the national level, Haas was seventh in NCAA DIII in digs per set and helped lead the team which is currently second in the country in digs per set at 13.06. Haas was able to break his own school record with 25 digs in a four-set loss at Wittenberg University. There were 13 matches this season where Haas went without a receiving error on opposing serves, including a run of six in a row to start the conference slate. He had just 19 errors on 425 serves. Haas tallied 56 assists in the regular season as well.
Also representing Trine on the First Team All-League is sophomore opposite Kevin Boncaro. This is the first time the Rochester, New York native has been mentioned as an All-League recipient by the MCVL. Boncaro was top-5 in the conference in both kills (321) and digs (207) and he led the league in kills per set at 3.91. Nationally, Boncaro was fourth in NCAA DIII in attacks per set (10.17) and ninth in points per set (4.61). As a team, Boncaro helped lead the Thunder to 31.06 attacks per set, good for second in the country. He added 48 blocks, 28 aces and four assists to his ledger on a .218 hitting percentage.
The sophomore reached 500 career kills in the team's regular season finale against the University of Mount Union. In a 3-2 loss at Nazareth, Boncaro tallied the second-most kills in a match with 25 on a program-high 60 attempts. He also had 17 digs in the Nazareth match, the second-most only to his 18-dig effort against Fontbonne University later in the season.
Junior outside hitter Ted Hofmeister was named a member of the Second Team All-League for his efforts in the 2023 season. The Powell, Ohio native becomes a two-time all-league honoree after achieving First Team All-League one season ago. He was seventh in the MCVL in kills per set at 3.08 this season and totaled 246 kills. He was also in the top-10 in digs per set at 2.21 (177 total).
Hofmeister had a season-high 18 kills in a four-set win over Illinois Tech. He recorded double-doubles against Marian University with 17 kills and 12 digs, Nazareth with 16 kills and a career-high 17 digs, and Bethel University with 13 kills and 11 digs. He had a string of eight consecutive matches with double-digit kills spanning from February 25 to March 25. On
These three and the rest of the Thunder men's volleyball team are back in action on Friday, April 14 in the MCVL Tournament Semifinals. Trine takes on the top-seeded Mount Union Purple Raiders at 7 p.m.
