ANGOLA, Ind. – Prior to the Trine University men's volleyball team's match with Adrian College, the Thunder celebrated the senior class of 2024. Hunter Haas, Nick Woolley, Ted Hofmeister, Matt Stillman and Landon Barrow were recognized before the team defeated the Bulldogs 3-1. The win pushes their record to 16-5 overall and 6-1 in the Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League (MCVL). Adrian falls to 14-12 and 2-5 in conference action.
After getting out to a 4-0 lead in set one, the Bulldogs were able to hang around and eventually win the first set 25-23. It was the best hitting set for the visitors with both teams going for twelve kills and six errors.
After dropping the first set, the Thunder settled in and went up 16-11 in the second thanks to an ace by Hofmeister. A timeout for Adrian would be effective in cutting into the Trine lead, but they were never able to get back in front and Johnson-Kuhao Ho'okano-Pelekai wrapped up the 25-20 win with a kill, the 13th of the set.
A negative hitting percentage for the Thunder opponents in set three set up the home team for a 25-16 win. Four of the final five points for Trine were accumulated on blocks. Kevin Boncaro, Karl Both, Stillman, Ho'okano-Pelekai and Woolley all contributed at the net during the run. Collectively, the team had 11 blocks (five solo) in the match.
Consecutive kills by Hofmeister put the Thunder in front 6-2 to begin the fourth set and they would not look back from there in the 25-17 match-clinching set victory. Hofmeister had eight of his team-high 24 points in the fourth set. In total, he had a team-high 18 kills, three aces, two solo blocks and two block assists.
Boncaro added 13 kills for the offense and Woolley assisted on 41 points. Defensively, Boncaro recorded a season-high 17 digs to reach 500 for his career. Stillman and Hofmeister were apart of four blocks each.
The Thunder travel to Wittenberg University on Friday, April 5 in hopes of defeating them to stay alive for the MCVL regular season championship. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.