ST. LOUIS, MO. -- The Trine University men's volleyball team fell to Fontbonne (Mo.) University, 3-0, in an opening match of the Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League (MCVL) Tournament hosted by Fontbonne in St. Louis, Mo.
Trine (11-6) began the first set with a kill by freshman Matt Stillman (Mokena, Ill./Lincoln Way Central), but Fontbonne (18-1) answered with four straight points to take a 4-1 lead. Shortly after, the Griffins went on a 5-0 scoring run to take a sizeable 10-2 advantage. Still trailing by eight points (14-6), Trine looked to rally with a string of six unanswered points that included a kill by junior Kyle Dixon (Lockport, Ill./Lockport Township) and three service aces by sophomore Ethan Howard (South Whitley, Ind./Witko) that made the score 14-12. Later in the set, the Thunder evened the score at 19-19 thanks to a kill by sophomore Parker Beale (Noblesville, Ind./Fishers). Fontbonne then went on a 4-0 run which turned out to be the difference maker as the Griffins went up by a 23-19 margin en route to coming away with a 25-21 victory.
In the second set, the two squads played a close game early on, including battling to a 12-12 tie following a kill by Trine's Matt Stillman. Fontbonne then outscored Trine, 10-3, to grab a seven-point lead, 22-15. The margin would be enough for the Griffins to come away with a 24-17 win in set number two and grab a commanding 2-0 overall match lead.
The third set saw Trine lead, 2-1, early until a streak of three straight points by Fontbonne swung momentum in favor of the Griffins with a 4-2 lead. Later in the game, Fontbonne eventually began to separate itself on the scoreboard with a series of small scoring runs and opened up to a seven-point lead, 19-12. Trine got to within five points after an ace by junior Eric Santiago-Garcia (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Glen Ridge) to make it a 21-16 game, but time wasn't on the Thunder's side as Fontbonne recorded the game-winning point on an error to come away with a 25-18 decision and the straight-set match win, 3-0.
Statistically, Trine was led by Beale who had eight kills. Stillman was second with seven kills and Dixon rounded out the top three with four kills. Senior Hunter Monday (Beech Grove, Ind./Lutheran) had a team-high 23 assists and Howard led all players with a match-high three aces.
Freshman Hunter Haas (Cincinnati, Ohio/Bishop Moeller) had a team-high seven digs and was followed by Hunter with six digs. At the net, Monday and Stillman both recorded a solo block to lead the team.
With the loss, the Thunder end their season. The 11 victories this season were the most for the program since it was brought back as a varsity sport in 2019. The Thunder also made their first appearance in the MCVL Tournament since joining the conference.