KENOSHA, WIS. -- The Trine University men's volleyball team fell in straight sets to Carthage (Wis.) College, 3-0, in a Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League match in Kenosha, Wis.
Freshman Eric Santiago-Garcia (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Glen Ridge) led the team in kills with a match-high 17 and finished with a .314 attack percentage. Freshman Kyle Dixon (Lockport, Ill./Lockport Township) was second with nine kills. Junior Hunter Monday (Beech Grove, Ind./Lutheran) recorded all 32 assists to set up the offense.
Dixon led the team defensively with eight digs and was followed by the duo of Santiago-Garcia and freshman Blake Grosse (Belleville, Ill./Belleville Twp. West) with seven digs each.
The first set saw Carthage (14-1, 2-0 MCVL) score the first three points and quickly jumped out to a 9-2 advantage. Carthage went on to lead by as many as 10 points in the set multiple times en route to taking a 25-14 set victory.
Carthage continued its impressive play in the second set by scoring the first five points. Dixon put the Trine (4-14, 0-2 MCVL) on the board with a kill to make it a 5-1 game. The Thunder chipped away at the deficit and got to within a point, 14-13, after another kill by Dixon, but a 4-1 run by the home squad put Carthage back out in front by five points, 19-14. The Red Men maintained their lead the rest of the way and went on to win the set by a final of 25-20 and take a 2-0 overall match lead.
In the third set, Trine trailed by a points, 9-8, following back-to-back kills by Santiago-Garcia. After a point by Carthage that increased the margin to two points, Santiago-Garcia tallied another kill to get the Thunder back to within a point, 10-9. But that was as close at Trine got the rest of the set as Carthage opened up to a nine-point advantage, 22-13. Trine then went on a 5-1 run that included kills by freshman Luke Maier (Colorado Springs, Colo./Doherty) and Santiago-Garcia that made the score 23-18. Carthage tallied the final two points it needed before the Thunder could tack on any more scores as the Red Men claimed the 25-18 win to complete the match sweep, 3-0.
Trine will next travel to Chambersburg, Pa. to take on Wilson College in a non-conference matchup on Tuesday, Mar. 5. The match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
