ANGOLA, IND. -- The Trine University men's volleyball team played a competitive match against Loras (Iowa) College, but would fall short in the end, 3-0, in a Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League matchup at Hershey Hall in Angola, Ind.
The Thunder lost in straight sets by the scores of 25-18, 25-22 and 25-21.
In the first set, Loras (20-6, 5-3 MCVL) jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead on its way to having a 6-1 advantage. Trine (6-22, 5-3 MCVL) worked its way to within three points several times, including a 19-16 deficit following a kill by freshman Luke Maier (Colorado Springs, Colo./Doherty). But that was as close as the Thunder got as the Duhawks extended their lead out to a more comfortable, 21-16, margin and tallied the final three points of the set to claim the 25-18 win.
Loras led 3-1 to begin the second set, but back-to-back errors by the Duhawks evened the game at 3-3. Loras regained the lead on the next point and never trailed again despite Trine mounting a late rally to get to within a point, 23-22. Then a pair of Thunder errors gave Loras the final two points it needed to come away with the 25-22 set win and a 2-0 match lead.
Freshman Kyle Dixon (Locport, Ill./Lockport Township) recorded a kill to begin the third set and gave Trine the early lead. Loras responded with an ensuing 8-2 scoring run to take control and never trailed the rest of the way. The Duhawks led by as many as seven points, 16-9, but the Thunder looked to make things interesting and pulled to within two points, 21-19, on a kill by freshman Jackson Condrey (Spokane, Wash./Ferris). Loras then scored three straight points to gain some breathing room and went on to win by the final of 25-21 to claim the 3-0 match victory.
Dixon and freshman Eric Santiago-Garcia (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Glen Ridge) led Trine in kills with seven each. Condrey was second with six kills. Junior Hunter Monday (Beech Grove, Ind./Lutheran) tallied 26 assists to round out the offensive leaders.
Maier led the team in digs with six and was followed by a trio of players with three digs in Santiago-Garcia, freshman Dan Boren (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) and freshman Blake Grosse (Belleville, Ill./Belleville Township West). Condrey led the Trine blockers with a solo and an assisted block.
Trine will conclude the 2019 season tomorrow (Saturday, Apr. 6) when it hosts Augustana (Ill.) College in a MVCL match at Hershey Hall on senior day. The match is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.
