CRAWFORDSVILLE, IND. -- The Trine University men's volleyball team picked up a pair of Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League (MCVL) match victories against Wabash College, 3-1 and 3-0, in Crawfordsville, Ind.
In the first match of the day, the Thunder defeated the Little Giants by the scores of 25-18, 19-25, 25-18 and 25-19. Three Trine players finished in double figures in kills to lead the offensive attack with sophomore Parker Beale (Noblesville, Ind./Fishers) tallying a match-tying high 15 kills. Freshman Matt Stillman (Mokena, Ill./Lincoln Way Central) was second with 11 kills and junior Eric Santiago-Garcia (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Glen Ridge) added 10 kills.
Sophomore Ethan Howard (South Whitley, Ind./Witko) had a match-high 41 assists and also had a service ace.
Defensively, freshman Hunter Haas (Cincinnati, Ohio/Bishop Moeller) led all players in digs with 19 and was followed by sophomore Dominic Saenz (Wall Twp., N.J./Wall) with 12 digs. Beale and Stillman both led the team in blocks with a match-tying high two total blocks. Beale finished with a solo block and assisted on another, while Stillman had two solo blocks.
Wabash (2-12, 2-12 MCVL) took an early 2-0 lead in the first set, but Trine (9-5, 9-5 MCVL) then went on a 9-4 scoring run to lead by three points, 9-6, and never trailed in the game again. The Thunder went on to lead by as many as seven points multiple times, inlcuding a 21-14 advantage following a kill by junior Kyle Dixon (Lockport, Ill./Lockport Township). Wabash pulled to within five points, 22-17, but that's as close as the Little Giants got as Trine scored the final three points it needed to match his large lead of the set with a final score of 25-18.
The two teams battled to a 2-2 early in set number two, but Wabash scored four unanswered points to take a 6-2 lead and stayed out in front on the scoreboard the rest of the way. Trine made it close later in the set by getting to within a point, 14-13, following an error by the Little Giants. Wabash then took control with an ensuing 5-0 run to make it a 19-13 game and went on to win by a six-point margin, 25-19, and even the overall match at a game apiece.
In the third set, Trine began to put some distance between itself and Wabash by outscoring the Little Giants, 4-2, with the score already tied at 4-4. Later in the set, the home team looked to make a run and took a one-point lead 14-13. A few points later, the two teams battled to a 15-15 tie when three straight Trine points, aided by a pair of kills by junior Dan Boren (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) and Santiago-Garcia, put the Thunder out ahead by a score of 18-15. Trine's lead was not threatened the remainder of the set and later grew to as many as seven points with a final score of 25-18.
Trine began the fourth set with seven consecutive points highlighted by kills from Santiago-Garcia, Saenz, Howard and Stillman. The early offensive spurt was all that the Thunder needed as the lead never dropped below five points which came late in the set with Trine leading, 23-18. Following a service error by Wabash that put Trine in match-point, the Wabash fought off the first match-point with a kill before Santiago-Garcia recorded the winning point for the Thunder on a kill that gave Trine a 25-19 set victory and the match, 3-1.
The second match saw Trine defeat Wabash in straight sets by the scores of 25-17, 25-19 and 25-19.
Trine jumped out to a 7-2 margin to start the first set and later increased its lead to 10 points thanks to a 5-0 run highlighted by two kills by Dixon that made it a 14-4 game. The 10-point margin was the largest of the game for Trine who claimed the win on a kill by Beale for the 25-17 final.
Set number two started off as a back-and-forth contest between the two teams that ended in the score being tied at 9-9 following a kill by Beale. The Beale kill was the start of four straight Trine kills that allowed the Thunder to take the lead by a 12-9 margin. Trine then began to pull away from Wabash and went on to lead by as many six points several times, including the final score of 25-19 to take a commanding 2-0 match lead.
Beale started the scoring in the third set with back-to-back kills which was followed by an error by Wabash and gave Trine an early 3-0 lead. The Thunder then went on an ensuing 8-2 run that included two aces by Beale, to take a commanding 11-2 advantage. The Little Giants looked to make a late rally and pulled to within three points that included a 22-19 margin after a Trine service error. An ensuing kill by senior Hunter Monday (Beech Grove, Ind./Lutheran) extented the lead to four points (23-19) and was then followed by consecutive Wabash errors which included block assists by Trine's Monday and freshman Landon Barrow (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) to seal the win, 25-19, and the 3-0 match victory.
Beale ended the match with 11 kills to lead all players offensively while posting a .647 attack percentage. Freshman Ted Hofmesiter (Powell, Ohio/Saint Charles) was second with seven kills and four players tied with five kills. Monday set up the offense with a match-high 32 assists and was third on the team in digs with five.
Hass tallied a match-high 11 digs and freshman Nate Unsicker (Woodridge, Ill./Downers Grove South was second with six digs. Stillman led all players in blocks with three (two solo and one assist), followed by Monday and Barrow who both had two blocks.
Trine will wrap-up the regular season on Sunday, Mar. 28 against Wittenberg (Ohio) University in the MCVL and home finale at Hershey Hall. The first match is set to begin at 1 p.m.
